Restore or create upland heath/moorland

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 2
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

78%
Certainty

20%
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Upland heath/moorland typically consists of dwarf shrubs such as heather Calluna vulgaris (Natural England 2011). These areas are important for wildlife including rare birds such as black grouse Tetrao tetrix, as well as invertebrates (Natural England 2011). Moorland can become dominated by scrub or grasses such as purple moor grass Molinia caerulea (Natural England 2011). This intervention involves restoring or creating areas of upland heath/moorland which may benefit birds and other wildlife.

See also ‘Manage heather by swiping to simulate burning’ and ‘Manage heather, gorse or grass by burning’ for studies that investigated specific techniques for managing heather.

Natural England (2011) Upland heath. Available at http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/biodiversity/englands/habitatofthemonth/uplandheath.aspx Accessed 23 October 2012.

Study locations

Key messages

A small unreplicated trial of heather moorland restoration in northern England found that mowing and flail cutting along with grazing could be used to control the dominance of purple moor grass. The same study found moorland restoration benefited one bird species, with one or two pairs of northern lapwing found to breed in the area of restored moorland, where none had bred prior to restoration.
A review from the UK concluded that vegetation changes took place very slowly following the removal of grazing to restore upland grassland to heather moorland.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A 1984 review of studies in the UK (Ball 1984) concluded that, after removal of grazing, reversion from upland grassland to heather Calluna vulgaris moorland happens very slowly. The review describes two long-term studies (1950s-1970s) that monitored botanical changes following exclusion of sheep from upland grassland plots in England (Welch & Rawes 1964, Rawes 1981, 1983) and Wales (Hughes et al. 1975, Hill 1983). By 1983, early vegetation changes were slow, mainly involving an altered balance of plant species already present on plots, and entry of heath species was limited. This may have been due to a lack of local seed sources or because seeds were unable to germinate in the close grass layer.
Additional references
Welch D. & Rawes M. (1964) The early effects of excluding sheep from high-level grasslands in the northern Pennines. Journal of Applied Ecology, 1, 281-300.
Hughes R.E., Dale J., Lutman J. & Thomson A.G. (1975) Effects of grazing on upland vegetation in Snowdonia. Annual Report of Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, 1974, 46-50.
Rawes M. (1981) Further results of excluding sheep from high level grasslands in the northern Pennines. Journal of Ecology, 69, 651-669.
Hill M.O. (1983) Effects of grazing in Snowdonia. Annual Report of Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, 1982, 31-32.
Rawes M. (1983) Changes in two high altitude blanket bogs after the cessation of sheep grazing. Journal of Ecology, 71, 219-235.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Ball D.F. (1984) Agriculture and the environment. Pages 155-162 in: D. Jenkins (ed.) Proceedings of ITE symposium no. 13 held at Monks Wood Experimental Station on 28-29 February and 1 March 1984. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Cambridge.
A small before-and-after study in 2004-2005 on an area of purple moor grass Molina caerulea-dominated moorland in northern England (Smith & Bird 2005) found that mowing and flail cutting along with livestock and wild red deer Cervus elaphus grazing could be used to control the dominance of purple moor grass and help restore heather Calluna vulgaris moorland. Mowing and flail cutting resulted in strong purple moor grass re-growth in spring, which was then heavily grazed, suppressing grass growth. The study also found one or two pairs of northern lapwing Vanellus vanellus bred on the area of restored moorland, whereas none had previously bred in the area. An area re-seeded with heather had heather seedlings from mid-June onwards. One hundred hectares of moorland were fenced to exclude livestock. Half of the grassland within the exclosure was burned on 9 March 2004 to reduce the dominance of purple moor grass, and 14 ha of the burned area was flail cut on 17 March 2004 to remove the burnt grass tussocks. A 3 ha area was sown with heather seed (40 kg/ha) in May 2004. In spring 2005 a further 4.5 ha area was flail cut and re-sown with heather at 40-60 kg/ha. In 2005, sheep grazed the exclosure until the beginning of June, following which the exclosure gates were opened until mid-June to allow free grazing. Cattle (63 livestock units) then grazed the area from late June. Sheep are now permanently excluded from the area.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Smith D. & Bird J. (2005) Restoration of degraded Molinia caerulea dominated moorland in the Peak District National Park Eastern moorlands, Derbyshire, England. Conservation Evidence, 2, 101-102.

Please cite as:

Dicks, L.V., Ashpole, J.E., Dänhardt, J., James, K., Jönsson, A., Randall, N., Showler, D.A., Smith, R.K., Turpie, S., Williams, D.R. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Farmland Conservation. Pages 283-321 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Farmland Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Mark fencing to avoid bird mortality Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Maintain wood pasture and parkland Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Restore or create upland heath/moorland Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	2	Synopsis Link