Heathland – conservation and management

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• You are going to be learning about a very important habitat – lowland heathland.

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• You will be looking at case studies and trying to weigh up the pros and cons of different developments – should they be chosen over heathland?

• You will be learning about conflicts in land use and some of the pressures that heathland habitats face.

• About 200 years ago (c. the year 1800) there was about 290,000 hectares of heathland in the UK. Nowadays, only about one-sixth of the heathland present in 1800 remains.

• That means that from an area the size of Cornwall, only the equivalent of the Isle of Wight remains.

The decline of heathland in the UK

• Despite these losses the UK still has 20% of the world’s lowland heathland resource.

• Heathland in Dorset was created following the clearance of woodland in or before the Bronze Age.

The decline of heathland in Dorset

• The heathland remained largely intact until the 17th Century.

• Since the 17th Century the extent of Dorset’s heathland has decreased from c. 50,000 ha to 7,000 ha (a decrease of 86%).

Source: www.rtpi.org.uk/download/1966/Dorset-Heathlands.pdf

The image shows the loss of 86% of Dorset’s heathland between 1759 and 1987. Areas of heathland are shown in black.

The decline of Dorset’s Heathland (1759-1987)

18th CenturyReclamation of heathland

for agriculture

19th and 20th Century Loss of heathland to

Poole-Bournemouth urban area.

20th CenturyForestry Commission plant conifer

plantations as part of post-war timber sustainability programme

Where did 86% of Dorset’s heathland go?

• In previous decades the main threat to heathland was the replacement of the habitat with other land uses (e.g., agriculture).

Nitrogen deposition Over-use (recreation)

Threats to heathland

• Nowadays, the main threat to heathland is changes to the habitat due to external influences and mismanagement, including:

Overuse of Dorset’s Heathland

• However, Dorset's remaining heathland is within easy access of over half a million people.

• 96% of the remaining heathland in Dorset is covered by international designation (SPA, SAC and Ramsar) and 97% is covered by the SSSI designation.

What impacts could people living near the heathland have on the ecology of the heathland?

Impacts include:

• Trampling;

• Fire (accidental and deliberate);

• Disturbance of animals and ground-nesting birds by walkers, dogs etc.

• Nutrient (nitrogen) enrichment of soils by the deposition of fumes from traffic, industry and intensive agricultural practices.

• Predation of reptiles and birds by domestic cats.

Overuse of Dorset’s Heathland

Photo shows damage by motorcycles at Upton Heath SSSI, Dorset (1989). www.images.naturalengland.org.uk/imagelibrary

Trampling by foot, cycle, motorbike and/or horse can:

• Damage plants;

• Cause soil erosion;

• Injure/kill animals using sandy areas (e.g., destroy eggs laid by sand lizards and mining bee burrows).

Overuse of Dorset’s Heathland

Photo shows fire at Winfrith Heath SSSI, Dorset (1990)www.images.naturalengland.org.uk/imagelibrary

Heather is highly flammable. Fire (accidental and deliberate) can result in:

• Death of plants and animals;

• Subsequent invasion of less desirable species (scrub and bracken).

Overuse of Dorset’s Heathland

Fire at Upton Heath (Dorset) on 9th June 2011. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-13716970

The population of Dorset is expected to grow by 10% between 2001 and 2026 – over 40,000 new homes may be needed.

What effect might the predicted increase in population (and housing have on Dorset’s heathland?

How could you minimise/manage the impact the increase in population might have on Dorset’s heathland?

To explore some of the conflicts between urban developments and heathland conservationists please complete Activity A and/or Activity B.

Overuse of Dorset’s Heathland

There are two main approaches to heathland conservation:

Conserving Heathland

• Heathland creation (or recreation) to replace the heathland lost to other land uses (e.g. development, agriculture, forestry);

• Heathland management/restoration to prevent the degradation of existing heathland habitats.

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The UK Biodiversity Action Plan has targets for the both the recreation and management/restoration heathland:

Conserving Heathland

• Reduce the amount of heathland in unfavourable condition in the UK from 33,992 ha (in 2010) to 12,762 ha by 2015.

• Increase the extent of lowland heathland in the UK by 7,600 ha by 2015.

Conserving Heathland

It is expected that most of the recreated heathland will be reclaimed from conifer plantations and farmland where heath has previously been recorded.

To investigate some of the arguments surrounding heathland creation please complete Activity C.

Managing HeathlandHeathlands are plagioclimax ecosystems – without continual intervention from man they will undergo succession and convert to areas of woodland or scrubland.

To be conserved, heathland must be managed.

Managing Heathland

Heathland management should satisfy the following requirements:

• Control trees, scrub and bracken (however, leaving some areas of scrub, or some trees may be beneficial to wildlife by increasing the habitat/structural diversity);

• Produce age diverse vegetation (e.g., stands of heather of different ages)

• Meet the specific requirements of rare species.

• Control the nutrient content of the soil;

Managing HeathlandSeveral techniques are used to manage heathlands, including:

To find out more about the various heathland management techniques please complete Activity D.

Tree removal

Grazing

Controlled burning

Chemical control of bracken