Status: None

Access: Open

Facilities: Car park, nature trail

Map reference: 84-NX 706 786

Marshland and bogs are often very nutrient poor habitats and only contain a limited range of plant species, but these plants are extremely well adapted to such habitats and generally found nowhere else. Some have evolved extreme measures to supplement their nutrient intake, including the so called 'carnivorous' plants, Sundews, Butterworts and Bladderworts.

Unfortunately today such habitats are scarce and becoming even rarer largely due to land 'improvement' and drainage schemes. The marshland and bogs at Knowetops contains a range of specialist wetland plants, including four species of Willow, Whorled Caraway and Intermediate Bladderwort, a rootless, floating 'carnivorous' plant which uses tiny bladders on its submerged stems to trap and digest aquatic animals.

The woodland is home to Red Squirrels, Otters are known to frequent the lochs and Common Lizards have been seen in the heathland. The wet Birch woodland supports a rich moss and lichen flora and contains a large amount of dead timber supporting a 'saproxylic' invertebrate community. Knowetops supports populations of the Scotch Argus, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Large Heath Butterflies, and in summer is an excellent site for Dragonflies and Damselflies with at least six species recorded; the Golden-ringed, Four-spotted Chaser, Common Darter and Black Darter Dragonflies, and the Large Red and Common Blue Damselflies.