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Why are the Moorlands important?

Landscape Value of the Moorlands

The dramatic gritstone edges are an awesome sight and provide brilliant views across the Dark Peak. The striking expanse of purple heather dominated moorlands is complemented by the changing hues of bracken and bilberry, cloughside flushes and patches of white cotton-grass.

Heather moorlands managed by burning are a distinctive feature in the landscape. Different aged ‘burn sites’ blanket the land like a beautiful patchwork quilt.

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Wildlife Value of Moorlands

The plant species found are highly specialised to cope with the harsh moorland climate. The combination of wind and rain means that plants need to be able to tolerate the harsh conditions of desiccation (drying out) at one extreme and waterlogging at the other. The freezing conditions of winter are effectively a drought for the plants as they cannot take up the frozen water.

Plants also have to be able to cope with the poor nutrient content of the moorland peat. One species, the sundew shown here, has adapted to catch insects to get its nutrient supply!

Sphagnum mosses have cleverly developed very thin surface membranes so they can absorb nutrients directly from the atmosphere!

To learn more about the adaptations of some moorland plant species, click here.

Moorlands are made up of a variety of different habitats dependent on subtle changes in environmental conditions. There is often no clear boundary between these plant communities as they merge into one another from the drier slopes to the wet bog basin.

The plant communities found include heather moorland on the drier slopes, sphagnum mosses and cotton grass on the wetter blanket bog areas, acid grasslands, bracken beds, moorland scrub, wet flushes, moorland streams and the gritstone edges and boulder slopes.

Moorlands are particularly important for breeding bird populations including curlew, twite and occasionally lapwing. Short eared owl, merlin and golden plover also breed on these moors and are the reason this area has been designated as a Special Protected Area (SPA).

The Peak District moorlands support a small population of adders, although they are hard to find, being well camouflaged in the moorland habitat, as this photogaph shows. They can feel the vibration of walkers’ boots through the ground and quickly slither off to hide in the bushy heather.

The only English population of mountain hares is also found on these moorlands. They too have excellent camouflage abilities as their fur changes colour with the seasons. In the summer they are best suited to a brown coat to blend in with the moorland vegetation, whilst in winter a white coat hides them well in the snow.

British moorlands are of great international importance. The UK supports a large proportion of the worlds’ heather moorlands and 10-15% of the entire global resource of blanket bog!

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