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Where have all the moorlands gone?There was an estimated 27% loss of moorlands in England and Wales between 1947 and 1980! In the Peak District, air pollution from the surrounding cities is having a disastrous effect on plant diversity. In particular, sphagnum mosses are fast disappearing, as they are inadvertently absorbing air pollution along with atmospheric nutrients through their surface membranes. This in turn has had disastrous implications for peat formation which is largely made up of sphagnum mosses. The effect of over-grazing by sheep and trampling by large numbers of visitors has led to severe erosion problems, as can be seen in this photograph.
Once the vegetation has been trampled and the peat exposed, it very quickly dries out and gets washed away when it rains or blown away by the strong moorland winds. In the Dark Peak up to 33 sq.km may be eroded or bare of vegetation! Overgrazing has also led to a significant loss of heather moorland to acid grass moorland as heather cannot withstand grazing pressure like grasses, as the photograph here demonstrates.
The graph below illustrates the loss of moorland relative to increase in grassland, in the Peak District over a 20 year period. 
Accidental fires are also a major cause of erosion and habitat loss. People discarding cigarette ends or dropping litter such as glass bottles or foil wrappers pose a serious threat. The moorlands can get particularly dry in the summer, and fires can very quickly spiral out of control. The peat itself can even start to burn (which explains its use as a fuel) and as the fire burns deep into the ground it becomes very difficult to put out. Climate change is presently a threat to the survival of our moorlands. Peat formation requires cold, wet conditions. As the climate is getting warmer peat formation is greatly reduced and may even have stopped. For more information on the affects of climate change on peat formation in the past, go to the 'environment through time' section of this website. Current climate change predictions forecast the Peak District to experience warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers, possibly with longer periods of drought. This could result in even greater peat erosion, an increase in recreational pressure and more accidental fires.
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