Habitats in Britain
& Europe
1 - Forests and woodlands
2 - Grasslands and scrub
3 - Heathlands and moors
4 - Coastal habitats
Heathlands and moors
British
heathlands and grasslands originally came into existence when Bronze
Age man cleared the ancient woodlands for cultivation. Grasslands such as
the South Downs developed on calcareous soils ( chalk and limestone
) but only heathers, birch and pines could survive on poorer acidic
soils.
Heathlands
and moors support quite a limited range of butterflies, mainly amongst the
Satyrinae, Lycaeninae, Polyommatinae and Hesperiinae.
Controlled burning
Some heaths,
such as those in the New Forest and Exmoor are traditionally grazed
by ponies; but controlled burning is the primary heathland
management tool. Areas that are not periodically burned become very overgrown
with heather, gorse, birch and young pines, and eventually revert to
woodland.
Burning releases
nitrates, and allows the habitat to regenerate, producing fine grasses, trefoils, milkworts
and a carpet of fresh young cross-leaved heath, foodplant of the
Silver-studded Blue.
Fires can get out of control, so heaths nearly always have a network
of wide firebreaks, and these are mown periodically, producing a mix
of fine grasses and exposed soil, which is favoured by Satyrines
such as the Grayling and the Small Heath.
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Silver-studded Blue
Plebejus argus -
a typical heathland butterfly, still found in thousands on certain
heaths in Hampshire's New Forest. |
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Colonies of the Grayling
Hipparchia semele occur on dry
heathlands in southern England, and on coastal grasslands
throughout Britain. |
