Chalk downland is one of the most species-rich habitats in the UK. It can have up to 50 different kinds of wildflower growing in a single square metre. Some of the plants you can spot are daisies, buttercups, clover, cowslips, poppies, orchids and yellow rattle.
These meadows provide food and shelter for minibeasts, including bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets and beetles. The insects then feed a host of animals including birds, hedgehogs and bats.
Find out why bees are so important as pollinators on Dorset Museum’s pages.