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LEC 341 Lowland Heathland March 2016
An analysis of factors affecting lowland heathland and the research, monitoring and
legislation used to maintain it
There are approximately 350,000ha of lowland heathland in Europe (Pywell et al, 2011) with around
95,000ha in the UK (The Wildlife Trusts, 2016)
...
The majority of lowland healthland found in the UK is
located in the Southern counties of England (Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 2016)
...
There has been an 80% decline in the area of lowland heathland over the past 200 years
much of which has been in the past 50 years (Pywell et al, 2011)
...
Lowland heathland has a high level of species richness, as well as
being home to numerous rare species; over 5000 species of invertebrates including half of the UK’s
species of Dragonfly, all six of the species of reptile found in the UK and many birds, including the
Nightjar, Stonechat and Dartford Warbler can be found in our heathlands (The Wildlife Trusts, 2016)
...
The causes of the decline in this habitat are mostly due to human activities, including
urbanisation, intensified arable farming and quarrying which have led to habitat fragmentation (Diaz
et al, 2013) and air pollution (Farrell, 1993)
...
The shrubs found in lowland heathland require acidic
soils, so increases in soil pH can also cause a reduction in the area of heathland and can increase the
risk of succession from heathland to woodland or grassland (Pywell et al, 2011)
...
This essay examines historical factors that
have contributed to the decline of lowland heathland, along with contemporary threats; the
legislation, conservation and management programmes implemented to prevent further loss and to
increase the area of lowland heathlands in the UK; and it considers questions that need to be
answered in order to create more effective management techniques and that will aid us in moving
forward
...

Fragmentation of lowland heathland habitats is a large problem which has contributed to the decline
of this habitat, the three main causes of this fragmentation are arable farming, urbanisation and
afforestation (Farrell, 1993)
...
Between 1943 and
1966, the Forestry Commission planted numerous conifers on heathland, including what is now
Stover Country Park in Devon, these plantations were primarily for timber production (Farrell, 1993)
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Habitat fragmentation is a serious problem, not
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LEC 341 Lowland Heathland March 2016
only does it lead to reduced areas of habitat but it also effects the species that live within it,
fragmentation often causes areas to become isolated and this prevents species from being able to
move around which means that they are unable to colonise new areas and causes a narrowing of the
gene pool (Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 2016)
...
Grazing has been
found to have both positive and negative effects on lowland heathland; controlled grazing can
prevent trees and grasses from growing and thus prevents succession from heathland to woodland
or grassland, however, uncontrolled over grazing can have negative effects on the composition of
the vegetation which can last for decades after the grazing has stopped (Diaz et al, 2013); due to the
negative effects of grazing, the use of controlled grazing as a management technique is controversial
(Newton et al, 2009)
...

There are also a number of biological factors which have led to the decline of lowland heathland in
the UK, however, many of these biological factors are linked back to the effects of human activity
...
There are, however, a number of factors which
contribute to and increase the risk of succession; these include soil composition (Pywell et al, 2011),
climate change (Diaz et al, 2013) and the way in which the land is managed (Newton et al, 2009)
...
The main source of nitrogen deposition is from
atmospheric nitrogen from anthropogenic pollution (Pywell et al, 2011)
...
It could be argued that the fire reduces
some of the nitrogen and therefore helps by reducing the overall build up over time
...
In addition to the risk of heathlands being lost
to succession, heathland plants are at risk of Phytophthora disease which is caused by the
Phytophthora fungus species and causes die back in the heathland shrubs (Joint Nature Conservation
Committee, 2016)
...
The way in which
lowland heathland is managed is detrimental to whether or not it will survive; heathlands are
maintained for a variety of functions including military training camps, recreational use and
conservation of biodiversity (Diaz et al, 2013)
...
Management of lowland heathland through
grazing, controlled burning and preventing plants, such as bracken, from growing on it are essential
for its success as a habitat (Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 2016)
...
This theory suggests that it is the lack of
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LEC 341 Lowland Heathland March 2016
human activity rather than the presence of it that is causing a threat to the lowland heathlands, thus
it can be argued that human intervention is required to help restore and conserve it
...
There are agri-environment schemes in place to help
to achieve this, however, these schemes can often have low uptake rates and the techniques that
are employed in them can sometimes be ineffective (Pywell et al, 2011)
...
The agri-environmental
and stewardship schemes tend to use management techniques such as cutting, controlled burning
and grazing to restore habitats (Natural England, 2014)
...
The
study found that while many of the techniques appeared to be successful in the short term, after
three or four years, the vegetation was either poor or had reverted back to grassland (Pywell et al,
2011)
...

In order to continue to maintain and restore the lowland heathlands, current schemes need to be
continued and more research needs to be performed to improve methods, in order to fulfil and
exceed the aims of the BAP
...
The
combination of the low effectiveness of management and restoration techniques suggests that, in
order to meet the aims of the BAP and to ensure the best possible outcome of the programme,
more research needs to be carried out to find more effective methods of management and
restoration
...

It is essential that the factors of soil composition and climate change are taken into account when
developing conservation programmes (Natural England, 2014)
...
There has been a large decline in the total area of lowland heathland in the UK over
the past 200 years, most noticeably in the past 50 years, with this decline many species have been
lost; it is essential that no more biodiversity is lost due to loss and degradation of this habitat type
...
There are also a number of biological factors that
have led to the decline of this habitat, including succession, climate change and disease, however
these issues are often rooted in human activity
...

There are a variety of schemes in place to protect and restore lowland heathland but more research,
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LEC 341 Lowland Heathland March 2016
especially in areas relating to soil composition and climate change, needs to be done to find more
effective methods of management and restoration
...

References
Diaz, A
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A
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M
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A
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and Newton, A
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(2013) ‘Conservation
implications of long-term changes detected in a lowland heath plant metacommunity’, Biological
Conservation, 167, pp
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doi: 10
...
biocon
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08
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Farrell, L
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Available at:
http://publications
...
org
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Forestry Commission England (2003) Lowland Heath
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forestry
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uk/forestry/lowlandheath (Accessed: 10 March 2016)
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R
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, Milcu, A
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775–783
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2012
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, Gloves, D
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, Cook, A
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(2007) Natural England
Research Report NERR002 - The condition of lowland heathland: results from a sample survey of nonSSSI stands in England
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naturalengland
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uk/publication/36001
(Accessed: 10 March 2016)
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Available at: http://jncc
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gov
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Natural England (2014) Climate change adaptation manual - evidence to support nature conservation
in a changing climate (NE546) Lowland Heathland
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naturalengland
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uk/publication/5629923804839936 (Accessed: 10 March
2016)
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C
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B
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, Diaz, A
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, Bullock, J
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and Pullin, A
...
(2009) ‘Impacts
of grazing on lowland heathland in north-west Europe’, Biological Conservation, 142(5), pp
...

doi: 10
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biocon
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10
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Pywell, R
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, Meek, W
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, Webb, N
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, Putwain, P
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and Bullock, J
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(2011) ‘Long-term heathland
restoration on former grassland: The results of a 17-year experiment’, Biological Conservation,
144(5), pp
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doi: 10
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biocon
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02
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The Wildlife Trusts (2016) Lowland Heathland
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wildlifetrusts
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