Heathlands and Uplands

Lowland Heath, Uplands and Chalk Downlands

Lowland Heath

The word heath derives from Anglo Saxon times and refers to vegetation composed of heath and heathers.

Rackham (1986), claimed that heaths derived from human activities and require management to prevent reversion to woodland. This claim was supported by pollen studies which indicate that areas of traditional heathland such as the Breckland were covered in trees prior to the establishment of heathland vegetation, as early as 900 BC. It is thought that heaths developed via the grazing of woodland, thereby preventing regeneration of the trees.

In medieval times, heathland was a valued resource and many areas were protected as common land. In the middle ages the introduction of rabbits provided a motive for maintaining heaths. They shared the grazing with the commoners and provided the landowner a good return on land which otherwise yielded little financial benefit.

Throughout history heaths have provided useful products for those with the rights to use the vegetation. Bracken was widely used for animal bedding and roofing as well as fuel. In the 18^th and 19^th Centuries it was burnt to produce potash for glass, soap and as a detergent.

Lowland heath is a priority for nature conservation:

	In England only 15% of heathland present in 1800 now remains
	Britain has 58 000 ha of lowland heath (55% of which is in England)
	The UK has 20% of the international total for heathland habitat
	It supports a wide range of characteristic plants and animals, some of which are in decline

The decline of heathlands:

Pre war:

	Agricultural revolution:
	Bracken ceased to be a useful crop
	Technological advances meant heathlands could be cultivated
	Land ownership changed, private rights were elevated at the expense of commons rights and enclosure provided a legal technique for suppressing commons

Pause for thought..........List 3 reasons why bracken ceased to become a useful crop?

Post war:

	Heathlands ploughed up to provide food crops
	Commercial softwood plantations established on the heaths
	Urban development
	Recreation and amenity use
	Fire
	Pipeline and highway construction
	Mineral extraction and reservoir construction

The Biodiversity Action Plan also lists:

	Lack of management
	Nutrient enrichment, particularly from nitrogen compounds
	Fragmentation and disturbance from development

Recent research has shown the current pressures on existing heathland to be:

	Lack of management
	Heathlands (with a few exceptions) tend to be small and fragmented commons
	Consistent under-grazing due to impracticalities of fencing heathlands

Pause for thought........Some common areas of heathland are overgrazed. List 5 effects of overgrazing on the environment of the heathland.

CLICK HERE for Surrey Heathland Project, a very informative site regarding heathland regeneration and restoration. The wildlife sections, are especially relevant to the next section (change in species populations).

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Hills and Uplands

Upland landscapes... inbye and open fell

The agricultural use of the upland regions of Britain (i.e. Yorkshire dales, Pennines, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Snowdonia, Cumbria and Scottish Highlands) is primarily livestock production, either on semi-natural vegetation (heather moor or rough grazing or or on improved grassland. A number of semi-natural grassland areas (i.e. some parts of the Yorkshire Dales) are cut for hay or silage. Heather moorland is also managed for the sporting industry, mainly grouse shoots.

Land improvements in the Uplands

Conversion of semi natural vegetation to managed grassland

	Started after 1945
	Increased in 1960's and 70's
	Has declined since mid 1980's

Environmental impact:

	Addition of artificial nutrients to increase pH and nutrient status to provide suitable conditions for the more productive grass species
	Existing plant communities of species tolerant to acidic, nutrient poor soils are replaced
	If allowed to revert again, plant biodiversity does not always recover

Grazing of semi-natural vegetation:

	Extensive grazing by sheep and cattle
	Heather regeneration often improved by burning
	Extensive grazing and heather burning now in decline
	Hill Compensatory Livestock Allowances (HLCA's) and Ewe Premiums increased the number of sheep on the hills in 1970's and 80's
	The proportion of moorland rough grazing stocked at more than 2 ewes/ha in England and Wales LFA's (less favoured areas), rose from 29% in 1977 to 71% in 1987 (Thompson et al, 1995)

Environmental impact:

	Loss in vigour and growth of heather plant
	Change in height and volume of heather
	Reduction in ground cover of heather
	Increase in cover of unpalatable grass species
	Invasion of unproductive species such as bracken which
	Bracken litter is a habitat that is known to support sheep ticks which transmit Lymes Disease to humans and Louping Ill to sheep and grouse

CLICK HERE for information on heather beetle.

Pause for thought........What do you think would be the environmental impacts of hay and silage making on uplands. Why is time of cutting an important variable?

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Chalk and Downlands

Typical open Downland countryside

Chalk and downland soils are readily cultivated, but exhibit modest productive capabilities. The conversion of chalk downland to arable cropping and an intensification of stocking rates since 1945 has extended the limit of what is technically practical, and has often changed the appearance of the landscape. Calcareous grasslands exhibit a high level of plant and animal biodiversity, often owing to a long tradition of land use which would now be regarded as uneconomic. Many grasslands provide evidence of prehistoric agriculture and civilization.

There will be case studies of the South Downs and South Wessex Downs ESA's later in the course.

CLICK HERE for Chalk rivers, action plan for habitats (UKBAP)

Pause for thought.......List 5 agricultural and environmental benefits and problems associated with the keeping of outdoor pigs on the Oxford and Berkshire Downs.

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