BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

A

nyonewhotakesa tripto

Britain’suplandsinlate

summeris liabletoleave

withthecolourpurpleburnt

acrosstheirretinas.Swathes

ofheatheroftenstretchasfarastheeye

cansee.So,it wouldbeeasytothinkthat

anyfurtherlossof,ordamageto,the

country’smoorlandmightbetheleastof

conservationists’manyworries.Butwith

ourcrowdedislesproudcustodiansof

about 75 percentoftheentireglobaltotal

ofheather-cladmoorland,thisis onehabitat

weshouldnevertakeforgranted.

Coveringovera millionhectaresof

ouruplands,moorsaremostlyconfined

tothenorthandwestofBritain.They

dominateareasabovethelimitofenclosed

agriculturalland,butbelowthetheoretical

treelineofabout600mabovesealevel.

Uphere,thelandscapemaygivethe

impressionofbeingwild,woollyand

relativelyuntouched.However,lookscan

bedeceiving.Moorlandhasa longhistory

ofhumaninterventionandmanagement.

Onlythemountainpeaks,rockfacesand

screeslopesshouldbeconsidered

truewilderness.

Moorlandcanbefurther

subdividedintoperennially

moistblanketbogandacid

(andlargelyheather-free)

grassland,bothhabitats

previouslycoveredinthese

pages.Butmoorland‘proper’

is characterisedbyheatherthat

is dryenoughtowalkacross

withouttheneedforwellies.

Generallyfoundonslopescarpetedby

shallowpeatormineralsoilskeptmoistby

rainandmist,moorlandis,crucially,well

drained.It is alsodifferentiatedfromitslow-

lyingheathlandcounterpartbymorethan

justaltitude,sincemoorlandis frequently

importanttothelocaleconomy.Vasttracts

arecurrentlyunderthestewardship

ofeitherhillfarmsorgame-

shootingestates.

Heather,orling,mayappear

todominate,butotherdwarfshrub

species,suchasbilberry,cowberryand

crowberry,areheretoo.Theprecisemix

variesaccordingtoclimate,soilsandhow

eachlocationis drainedandmanaged,so

thereis muchvariationbetweendifferent

sites.Westerngorse,forexample,tends

tobea commonfeatureinsouth-west

18 BBC Wildlife September 2020

WILDLIFE WATCHING

In his series of great places to watch wildlife in the UK, the star of BBC One’s

The One Show this month takes a look at our heather-clad uplands – the

hotly debated home of raptors, red deer and the iconic red grouse.

MIKE DILGER’S

MOORLAND

IN SEPTEMBER