Heath
A heath (
Heaths are widespread worldwide but are fast disappearing and considered a rare habitat in Europe.
Characteristics
Heathland is favoured where climatic conditions are typically hard and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; a
Heath vegetation can be extremely plant-species rich, and heathlands of Australia are home to some 3,700 endemic or typical species in addition to numerous less restricted species.[3] The fynbos heathlands of South Africa are second only to tropical rainforests in plant biodiversity with over 7,000 species.[4] In marked contrast, the tiny pockets of heathland in Europe are extremely depauperate with a flora consisting primarily of heather (Calluna vulgaris), heath (Erica species) and gorse (Ulex species).
The bird
Anthropogenic heaths
Anthropogenic heath habitats are a cultural landscape that can be found worldwide in locations as diverse as northern and western Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and New Guinea.
These heaths were originally made or expanded by centuries of human clearance of the natural forest and woodland vegetation, by
The conservation value of these human-made heaths has become much more appreciated due to their historical cultural value as habitats;[7] consequently, most heathlands are protected. However they are also threatened by tree incursion because of the discontinuation of traditional management techniques, such as grazing and burning, that mediated the landscapes. Some are also threatened by urban sprawl. Anthropogenic heathlands are maintained artificially by a combination of grazing and periodic burning (known as swailing),[8] or (rarely) mowing; if not so maintained, they are rapidly recolonised by forest or woodland. The recolonising tree species will depend on what is available as the local seed source, and thus it may not reflect the natural vegetation before the heathland became established.
In literature
The heath features prominently in:
- King Lear, by William Shakespeare
- Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë
- The Return of the Native, by Thomas Hardy
- Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton
Gallery
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Lüneburg Heath, an anthropogenic heath in Lower Saxony, northern Germany
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Fynbos heathland, South Africa
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Heathland at Woodbury Common, Devon (England), featuring purple flowers of Calluna vulgaris and yellow flowers of Ulex gallii
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Heathland in Royal National Park, Sydney
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Heathland in the Veluwe forest, Netherlands
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Heath in the Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve in Estonia
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Heath on the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland in Poland
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A heath landscape in the Stirling mountains of Western Australia, with a "dieback"-infested valley in the mid-ground
See also
- Bolster heath
- Chalk heath
- Garrigue
- Maquis shrubland
- Matorral
- Scrubland
References
- ISBN 0-19-217713-3.
- ^ Anon. "Heath and Moorland". Field Studies Council. FSC. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- ^ a b c Specht, R.L. 'Heathlands' in 'Australian Vegetation' R.H. Groves ed. Cambridge University Press 1988
- ^ a b "Montane fynbos and renosterveld". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- .
- ^ Rackham, Oliver (1997). The History of the Countryside. Phoenix. p. 282.
- )
- ^ "Dartmoor fire 'largest in years'". BBC News. 7 April 2013.
External links
- The Countryside Agency information on types of open land
- Origin of the word 'heath'