It’s easy to think of a river as the water that flows between two banks, meandering slowly towards the sea. But a river is so much more than its course. A healthy river is connected to the landscape around it. To wetlands both permanent and temporary.  Some of the water within the channel might rush straight to the sea, whilst some will seep into fens and reedbeds. The river can swell, flowing through soils and spilling over the banks, turning meadows into marshes that will dry out again in spring. 

Flooding is a natural part of a river’s annual cycle. It creates lakes, pools and soggy grasslands that provide food for a wide variety of wildlife. It enriches soils, leading to wonderful displays of wildflowers that buzz with bees, butterflies and other pollinators. It wets woodlands, leaving behind rotten wood perfect for beetles to burrow through. When we think of a river and its wildlife, we need to think about the land around it, too. Let’s take a look at two of the habitats that have grown beside our rivers.

Wet woodland

Many of our trees have evolved to live alongside water, growing in river valleys or on banks where the soil is seasonally flooded. There might be towering birches, slender and elegant, or tangles of willow and alder. These wet woodlands are often rich with ferns, fungi, mosses and lichens that thrive in the damp conditions. 

They’re wonderful places for wildlife. The ever-changing mosaic of pools, plants and rotting wood creates ideal conditions for a variety of invertebrates. They often support rare creatures, with very niche tastes. One example is the netted carpet, a rare moth that feeds on touch-me-not balsam in the dappled shade of streamside woodlands. 

In winter, noisy flocks of siskins and redpolls flit through the canopy, plucking at alder catkins, filling the air with twittering calls. If you’re really lucky, you might hear another call. The hoarse ‘taah taah taah’ of the willow tit, a chunky cousin of our familiar garden great tit. They nest in rotten trees and stumps, excavating a new hole each spring. Though now worryingly rare, they can still be found in some wet woodlands.

Floodplain meadow

These marvelous meadows are not entirely nature’s creation, but an example of what can be achieved when we work with nature. Found on low-lying land beside rivers, prone to flooding in the winter months, they were shaped by traditional farming methods. A hay crop was taken in summer, then the land was grazed until it became too wet, with livestock fed over winter by the harvested hay. The autumn and winter floods enriched the soil, leading to wonderful blooms of wildflowers the following spring and summer. But these methods fell out of favour, making floodplain meadows a rare habitat.

Floodplain meadows are famed for their flowers. They can hold up to 40 species of plant per square metre, making them one of the most diverse habitats in the UK. The impressive diversity of plants makes floodplain meadows a great place for pollinators and other insects, too.

In summer, the meadows are home to nesting birds, from skylarks to redshanks and curlews. But they’re just as valuable for wildlife in autumn and winter, when the river spills over and floods them. Wading birds like snipe and golden plovers probe the mud for food, whilst whooper swans and wigeons, teals and other ducks dabble on the pools. Some of these birds have crossed the continent to be here!

Holding water

Floodplain habitats are important for wildlife, but they’re vital for us, too. When we let them, these natural floodplains hold water that might otherwise flood our streets. They store carbon, both deposited by the floodwater and taken down into the soil by plants, the wet conditions preventing its release. And they filter nutrients from our rivers, improving the water quality. Restoring rivers means reconnecting them to their floodplains, allowing them to become the wilder landscapes that they should be. 

The Wildlife Trusts have a vision for wilder, healthier rivers, protecting, benefitting and inspiring the communities that live alongside them. 

Find out more with Rivers 2040