Heathland Restoration
Lowland heath is an internationally important habitat that has become greatly fragmented over the last three centuries as land has been converted to other uses, particularly intensive agriculture. In Dorset, the National Trust is seeking to restore a mosaic of lowland heath and acid grasslands on a number of farms that underwent agricultural intensification after the Second World War. At the University we are working with the National Trust to investigate the effectiveness of a range of heathland techniques. These include soil acidification and soil stripping. The success of the various treatments will not be fully comparable for several years but results so far (four years into the project) indicate that the soil acidification treatment produces the best growth of heather. We are investigating the effect of this on other species of heathland plants and animals.
For more details contact Dr Anita Diaz
