Skip to main content
Log in

Biodiversity in montane Britain: habitat variation, vegetation diversity and some objectives for conservation

  • Papers
  • Published:
Biodiversity & Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The montane (low- to mid-alpine) zone in Great Britain (GB) lies above the potential tree-line (700–800 m, but descending to 200 m in the north). It is composed of moss and lichen heaths, snowbeds, blanket bog and dwarf-shrub (Ericaceae) health-covered solifluction/gelifluction terraces (38 communities/sub-communities). Approximately 3.0% of the land surface is covered by this- the most extensive predominantly near-natural terrestrial habitat in GB. Internationally distinctive features include oceanic and southern biotic outliers of arctic-alpine fellfield and mountain tundra, and plant communities that are either globally rare/localised or especially well represented in GB. The absence of extensive sub-alpineBetula spp. andSalix spp. scrub is striking.

The main sources of habitat diversity are climate, regional variation in topography and geology, and regional modifications due to land-use impact. Over 50 examples are given. Five important gradients in Scottish Highland vegetation are described. Only some 15% of the sampled montane vegetation is anthropogenic; the rest is semi- or near-natural. The vegetation is divided into 5 functional groups: chionophobous (avoids snow), chionophilous (prefers snow), species-rich, mires (including springs and flushes), and anthropogenic. Chionophobous and then chionophilous communities contribute most to montane vegetation diversity (calculated here as the ShannonH diversity index).H diversity increases asymptotically with montane site area but linearly with the number of communities present. A more varied topography, geology and topo-climate gives the highestH diversity.

Two examples of montane biodiversity reductions south of the Highlands are the loss of prostrateCalluna vulgaris heaths and modification ofRacomitrium lanuginosum healths. Five objectives for nature conservation are proposed, covering restoration of montaneR. lanuginosum healths, prostrate dwarf-shrub dominated heaths, sub-alpine scrub and upper treelines, and the extension of the breeding ranges of both ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) and dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) south of the Scottish Highlands. International support for monitoring is sought.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1964)Physico-geographical Atlas of the World. Academy of Sciences and Chief Directorate of Geology and Cartography, State Geological Committee of the USSR, Moscow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, J. (1991) Effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition onRacomitrium lanuginosum (Hedw) Brid. Ph.D. thesis, University of Manchester, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballantyne, C.K. (1983) Precipitation gradients in Wester Ross, North-West Scotland.Weather 38, 379–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, R.G. (1981)Mountain weather and climate. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayfield, M.G. (1979) Recovery of four montane heath communities on Cairngorm, Scotland, from disturbance by trampling.Biol. Conserv. 15, 165–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayfield, M.G. (1980) Replacement of vegetation in disturbed ground near ski-lifts in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland.J. Biogeog. 7, 249–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayfield, M.G., Urquhart, U.H. and Cooper, S.M. (1981) Susceptibility of four species ofCladonia to disturbance by trampling in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland.J. Appl. Ecol. 18, 303–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayfield, M.G. and Barrow, G.C. (eds) (1985)The ecological impacts of outdoor recreation in mountain areas in Europe and in North America. Ashford, Recreation Ecology Group.

  • Bickmore, D.P. and Shore, M.A. (1963)The atlas of Britain and Northern Ireland. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begon, N., Harper, J. and Townsend, C. (1990)Ecology: communities, populations and individuals (2nd edn). London: Blackwell Scientific Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birks, H.J.B. (1988) Long-term ecological change in the British uplands. In:Ecological change in the Uplands (M.B. Usher and D.B.A. Thompson, eds) pp. 37–56. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birks, H.J.B. (1989) Holocene isochrone maps and patterns of tree-spreading in the British Isles.J. Biogeog. 16, 503–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birks, H.J.B. and Ratcliffe, D.A. (1981)Classification of upland vegetation types. Edinburgh: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A., Horsfield, D. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1992) A new biogeographical classification of Scottish upland vegetation. 1. Descriptions of vegetation blocks and their spatial variation.J. Ecol. (in press).

  • Chandler and Gregory (1976)The Climate of the British Isles. London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission of the European Communities (1990) Supplementary Annexes to the Proposal for a Council Directive on the Protection of Natural and Semi-natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. COM(90)59 final, Brussels.

  • Countryside Commission for Scotland (1990)The Mountain Areas of Scotland. Perth: Country-side Commission for Scotland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, E. (1986) Rapporter fra hoyfjellsokologisk forsknungsstasjon, Finse, Norge. Report No. 1, pp. 1–37. Oslo: Agricultural University of Norway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fremstad, E. and Elven, R. (1987) Enheter for vegetasjons-kartlegging i Norge (Units for vegetation mapping in Norway).Økoforsk Utred. Trondheim: Norwegian Institute for Nature Management.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, H., Kinnes, L., Watson, A. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1988) Pressures on ptarmigan populations.Ann. Rev. Game Conserv. 19, 60–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, H., Murray, S., Rae, S., Whitfield, D.P. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1992a) Numbers and distribution of dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) breeding in Great Britain.Bird Study (in press).

  • Galbraith, H., Duncan, K., Murray, S., Smith, R., Whitfield, D.P. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1992b). Habitat use and diet in dotterel: a preliminary study.Bird Study (in press).

  • Gimingham, C.H. (1972)Ecology of heathlands. London: Chapman & Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geiger, R. (1965)The climate near the ground. 2nd edn. Cambridge (Massachusetts): Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, S.J. and Harrison, D.J. (1988) The effect of elevation on the climatically determined growing season in the Ochil Hills.Scottish Geog. Mag. 104, 108–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haworth, P. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1990) Factors associated with the breeding distribution of upland birds in the South Pennines, England.J. Appl. Ecology 27, 562–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, V. (1973) Scotland's Landforms. InScotland, a new study (Clapperton, C.M., ed.) pp. 28–63. London: David & Charles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, L.O. (1973) Diversity and evenness: a unifying notion and its consequences.Ecology 54, 427–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, A. and Sydes, C. (1988). The upland vegetation survey. CSD Note No. 56. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, R.A., Charman, D.J., Everingham, F., O'Reilly, R.M., Palmer, M.A., Rowell, T.A. and Stroud, D.A. (1988)The Flow Country: the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manley, G. (1952)Climate and the British scene. Collins: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manley, G. (1971) Scotland's semi-permanent snows.Weather 26, 458–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • McVean, D.M. and Ratcliffe, D.A. (1962)Plant Communities of the Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nature Conservancy Council (1989)Guidelines for the selection of biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nethersole-Thompson, D. (1966).The snow bunting. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nethersole-Thompson, D. (1973)The dotterel. London: Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nethersole-Thompson, D. and Watson, A. (1981)The Cairngorms: their natural history and scenery. Perth: Melven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson, S. and Pitt, D. (1991)Mountain World in Danger: Climate change in the mountains and forests of Europe. London: Earthscan Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, C.N. (1982)The Ferns of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearsall, W.H. (1950)Mountains and Moorlands. London: Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearsall, W.H. and Pennington, W. (1973)The Lake District. London: Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pielou, P.C. (1977)Mathematical Ecology. London: John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poore, M.E.D. and McVean, D.N. (1957) A new approach to Scottish mountain vegetation.J. Ecol. 45, 401–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A. (1959) The vegetation of the Carneddan, North Wales. 1. Grasslands, heath and bogs.J. Ecol. 47, 371–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A. (1968) An ecological account of Atlantic bryophytes in the British Isles.New Phytol. 67, 365–439.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A. (1981)The Vegetation. InThe Cairngorm: their natural history and scenery, pp. 42–76. Perth: Melven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A., ed. (1977)A Nature Conservation Review. Vol. 1 and 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A. (1990)Bird life of mountains and uplands. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A. (1991) The mountain flora of Britain and Ireland.Brit. Wildlife 3(1), 10–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, D.A. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1988) The British Uplands: their ecological character and international significance. InEcological Change in the Uplands (M.B. Usher and D.B.A. Thompson, eds) 9–36. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodwell, J.S., ed. (1992)British Plant Communities. 2. Mires and Heaths. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodwell, J.S., ed. (1992)British Plant Communities. 3. Grasslands and Montane Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidaway, R. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1991) Upland recreation: the limits of acceptable change.Ecos. 12, 31–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, A.C. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1992) Long-term changes in the extent of heather moorland in upland Britain and Ireland: palaeoecological evidence for the importance of grazing.The Holocene, (in press).

  • Stroud, D.A., Mudge, G.P. and Pienkowski, M.W. (1990)Protecting internationally important bird sites: a review of the EEC special protection area network in Great Britain. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summers, C.F. (1978) Production in montane dwarf shrub communities. InProduction Ecology of British Moors and Montane Grasslands (O.W. Heal and D.F. Perkins, eds) pp. 263–76. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tansley, A.G. (1939)The British Islands and their Vegetation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D. (1986) Conflict on the high tops.Scot. Birds News 4, 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.B.A. and Baddeley, J. (1991) Some effects of acidic deposition on montaneRacomitrium lanuginosum healths. In:The Effects of Acid Deposition on Nature Conservation in Great Britain. (S.J. Woodin and A. Farmer, eds) pp. 17–28. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.B.A. and Horsfield, D. (1990) Towards a measurement of nature conservation interest in the British uplands. In:Grazing Research and Nature Conservation in the British Uplands. (D.B.A. Thompson and K. Kirby, eds) pp. 9–18. Research and Survey Series No. 27. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.B.A. and Sydes, C. (1992) The British Uplands. In:Our Natural Heritage (I.F.G. McLean, ed.) Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.B.A. and Whitfield, D.P. (1992) The dotterel. In:The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, (R. Spencer, D. Gibbons and J. Reid, eds). London: Academic Pers/Poyser. (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.B.A., Galbraith, H. and Horsfield, D. (1987) Ecology and resources of Britain's mountain plateaux: land use conflicts and impacts. In:Agriculture and Conservation in the Hills and Uplands, (M. Bell and R.G.H. Bunce, eds) pp. 22–31. Grange-over-sands: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.B.A., Marsden, J.H., MacDonald, A. and Galbraith, C.G. (1992) Upland heather moorland in Great Britain: international importance objectives for, vegetation change and some nature conservation.Biol. Conserv., (in press).

  • Tivy, J. (1973)The organic resources of Scotland: their nature and evaluation. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher, M.B. (1992) Management and diversity of anthropods inCalluna heathland.Biodiv. Conserv. 1, 63–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher, M.B. ed., (1986)Wildlife Conservation Evaluation. London: Chapman & Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher, M.B. and Thompson, D.B.A. (ed.) (1988)Ecological Change in the Uplands. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, A. (1965) Research on Scottish ptarmigan.Scot. Birds,3, 331–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, A. (1967) Public pressures on soils, plants and animals near ski lifts in the Cairngorms. In:The biotic effects of public pressures on the environment, (E. Duffey, ed.) pp. 38–45. London: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, A. (1979) Bird and mammal numbers in relation to human impacts at ski lifts in the Scottish hills.J. Appl. Ecol. 16, 753–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, A. (1984) A survey of vehicular hill tracks in North-East Scotland for land use planning.J. Environ. Manag. 18, 345–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, A. (1985) Soil erosion and vegetation damage near ski lifts at Cairn Gorm, Scotland.Biol. Conserv. 33, 363–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, A., Bayfield, M.G. and Moyes, S.M. (1970) Research on human pressures in Scotland mountain tundra, soils and animals. In:Productivity and Conservation in the Northern Circumpolar Lands, (W.A. Fuller and P.G. Kevan, eds) pp. 256–66. New series No. 16, Morges: IUCN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watt, A.S. and Jones, E.W. (1948) The ecology of the Cairngorms. 1. The environmental and altitudinal zonation of the vegetation.J. Ecol. 36, 283–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welch, R.C. (1981) Insects and other invertebrates. Appendix 2. In:The Cairngorms: their natural history and scenery (D. Nethersole-Thompson and A. Watson, eds) pp. 237–45. Perth: Melven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield, D.P., Duncan, K., Murray, S., Rae, S., Smith, R. and Thompson, D.B.A. (1991) Monitoring the dotterel population of Britain. In:Britain's Birds in 1989-90: the conservation and monitoring review, (D. Stroud and D. Glue, eds) pp. 109–11. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Meteorological Organisation (1990)Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change: First Assessment Report. Geneva: World Meteorological Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Thompson, D.B.A., Brown, A. Biodiversity in montane Britain: habitat variation, vegetation diversity and some objectives for conservation. Biodivers Conserv 1, 179–208 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00695915

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00695915

Keywords

Navigation