What is wet heath?
Wet heath is a community of acid, nutrient poor soils that are at least seasonally water logged; drainage and peat cutting have extended its range on to once deeper and wetter peat (Rodwell 1991). Wet heath often occupies areas of impeded drainage on lower valley sides and less steeply-sloping ground.
Is heathland an ecosystem?
Heathland is the name given to wide open landscapes dominated by low-growing shrubs, such as gorse, heather and the heathland grasses that give it its name. Heathland has only a few trees and no herbaceous plants. Heathlands are artificially created habitats.
What is a heathland habitat?
Heathland is characterised by plants such as heather, bilberry, gorse and bracken, which occur on infertile and well-drained soils. Open heaths have been highly modified by humans for centuries and are maintained by grazing or cutting.
What is a heath England?
A heath is an area of open land covered with rough grass or heather and with very few trees or bushes. [British] Synonyms: moorland, moor, scrub, upland More Synonyms of heath.
Why do we need heathland?
Like any other ecosystem, heathland provides ecosystem services. Put simply, this refers to the benefits that ecosystems provide humans and human economies, often without us being aware of it. Provisioning services are those that supply tangible products for us such as peat, coal and game.
How is heathland created?
Most heathland in England was created from the late Stone Age onwards through woodland clearance on naturally thin, acid soils, which allowed heathland plants suited to the poor soil conditions to expand.
How are heathlands managed?
Grazing is the preferred management option for maintaining a mosaic of heathland structure, but it is important to ensure appropriate stocking levels as overgrazing may reduce the structural diversity and species richness of the vegetation and hence the overall quality of the invertebrate habitat.
What does a heath look like?
The heaths have small, usually very narrow leaves arranged in whorls set closely together on the shoots. The long-lasting flowers have four sepals and a four-cleft bell-shaped or tubular corolla (ring of petals), which is inflated in many species.
What is the difference between a heath and a moor?
Generally, moor refers to highland and high rainfall zones, whereas heath refers to lowland zones which are more likely to be the result of human activity. Moorland habitats mostly occur in tropical Africa, northern and western Europe, and neotropical South America. Most of the world’s moorlands are diverse ecosystems.
How is heathland formed?
Most heathlands are thought to date from the Bronze Age some 3000 years ago. Grazing and tree removal caused the nutrient levels to fall further and the soil acidity to increase. These conditions suited heathland plants, which were previously limited to coasts, cliff tops and mountainsides.
How do you manage heathland?
- Habitat management. Habitat management should maintain a pattern of traditional heath management, attempting to retain a mosaic of vegetation types.
- Ensure appropriate grazing levels.
- Burning.
- Manage public pressure.
- Prevent scrub invasion and vegetational succession.
- BAP species associated with lowland heathland:
What are methods used to preserve the heathlands?
Habitat management. Habitat management should maintain a pattern of traditional heath management, attempting to retain a mosaic of vegetation types.
