Introduction

Over the past several decades conservationists have become increasingly concerned about the disappearance of traditionally managed meadows and pastures. These grasslands and their characteristic communities of native plants have been lost through treatment with artificial fertilisers and selective herbicides, through ploughing and reseeding and by encroaching development. It was against this background in 1987 that the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) began a systematic survey of semi-natural grasslands in Wales (currently nearing completion), using the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) (Rodwell, 1991, et seq.) to define plant communities. As well as providing basic information on the distribution and extent of unimproved grassland, a further aim of this CCW survey was to identify the best examples of this habitat in Wales and to afford them official recognition and protection as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). These are areas of land or water which are designated as being of nature conservation importance for their biological, geological or physio-graphic features. Designation affords the site statutory protection and aims to secure its sympathetic management. Currently, there are more than 1000 SSSIs in Wales.

In parallel with vascular plants, a series of species of macrofungi is largely confined to, and therefore indicative of, traditionally managed grasslands. Such habitats are known to mycologists as Hygrocybe grasslands (Feehan & McHugh, 1992) or waxcap grasslands (Rotheroe et al., 1996). The genus Hygrocybe (waxcaps) is not the only fungal indicator of this grassland community.