Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:10:58.271Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Restoration of Heather Moorland and Lowland Heathland, with Special Reference to Pipelines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

P. D. Putwain ,
D. A. Gillham  and
R. J. Holliday
P. D. Putwain
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, England, UK.
R. J. Holliday
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, England, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Reafforestation, reclamation to agriculture, urbanization, and a variety of industrial activities—such as mineral extraction and the laying of gas and oil pipelines—cause loss or severe degradation of heather moorland and lowland heathland in Britain. In recent years the expansion of the gas and oil industries has involved installation of many major pipelines, some of which traverse areas of heather moorland. Heathland vegetation is very sensitive to disturbance, and natural regeneration of its plant communities is relatively slow. Three detailed examples are given of severe disturbance caused by the laying of pipelines, where the original heathland vegetation has not recovered. There have been irreversible changes in the vegetation, to grassland with Juncus spp., and these have been associated with considerable changes in soil properties across the pipeline easement.

Improved techniques have been developed for reinstatement of heather moorland and lowland heathland after pipeline installation. The techniques are based on fundamental ecological principles and have been tested during the installation of a pipeline for Scottish Gas (across the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh) and during the installation of an oil pipeline in Dorset. In both cases recovery of the heathland vegetation was satisfactory. Based on these experiences, recommendations are given for the alleviation of problems associated with the laying of pipelines through heather moorland and lowland heathland.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1982 , pp. 225 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allen, T.J. (1976). A line of conservation. Shelegraph (Shell UK Oil (Stanlow) Internal House Journal), 534, pp. 10–12.Google Scholar
Bannister, P. (1964). The water relations of certain heath plants with reference to their ecological amplitude—Introduction: germination and establishment. Journal of Ecology, 52, pp. 423–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burden, R.F. (1979). Landscape scientist in a county planning office. Landscape Design, 126, 9 pp.Google Scholar
Gillham, D.A. & Putwain, P.D. (1977). Restoring moorland disturbed by pipeline installation. Landscape Design, 119, pp. 34–6, illustr.Google Scholar
Gimingham, C.H. (1972). Ecology of Heathlands. Chapman & Hall, London, England, UK: xv + 266 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Goode, D. (1981). The threat to wildlife habitats. New Scientist, 01 1981, pp. 219–23.Google Scholar
HMSO (1976). Aggregates: The Way Ahead. (Report of the Verney Committee.) HMSO, London, England, UK: xii + 118 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Holliday, R.J., Gillham, D.A., Putwain, P.D. & Hogg, W. (1979). The restoration of heather moorland following severe disturbance—a case-study of the installation of a gas pipeline in the Pentland Hills, near Edinburgh. Landscape Design, 126, pp. 33–6, illustr.Google Scholar
Kent, D.H. (1975). The Historical Flora of Middlesex. The Royal Society of London, London, UK: viii + 673 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Moffat, J.D. (1973). A Study of the Ecology of Pipelines. M.Sc. thesis, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK: 148 pp., illustr., (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Moffat, J.D. (1975). Pipeline installation: Problems, effects, and improvements. Landscape Design, 112, pp. 29–31.Google Scholar
Nature Conservancy Council (1977). Nature Conservation and Agriculture. Nature Conservancy Council, London, England, UK: 40 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Ratcliffe, D.A. (Ed.) (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: Vol. 1, xvi + 401 pp., illustr.; Vol. 2, viii + 320 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Trimen, H. & SirThistleton-Dyer, W.T. (1869). Flora of Middlesex. R. Hadwicke, London, England, UK: xxxxi + 428 pp.Google Scholar
Tubbs, C. R. (1974). Heathland management in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. Biological Conservation, 6, pp. 303–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, N.R. & Haskins, L.E. (1980). An ecological survey of heathlands in the Poole Basin, Dorset, England in 1978. Biological Conservation, 17, pp. 281–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar