Britain's Habitats

Sophie Lake and Durwyn Liley are professional ecologists who work at Footprint Ecology and live near the Purbeck Heaths and Poole Harbour in Dorset. They have worked in nature conservation, for a range of different organizations, for more than twenty years. This book is the result of their shared passion for natural history, ecology and the wild places in which they have lived, travelled and worked. Robert Still, the cofounder of WILDGuides, is an ecologist and graphic artist, and has designed more than thirty of its titles. Andy Swash, the managing director of WILDGuides, is an ecologist and wildlife photographer. Still and Swash are the coauthors of a number of books, including Britain's Dragonflies, Britain's Butterflies, Britain's Day-flying Moths and Britain's Sea Mammals (all WILDGuides).

Preface 5 Introduction 7 Types of habitat 10 Factors influencing habitats 12 Natural change - Succession 18 Habitat classification 20 Conservation of habitats 22 THE HABITATS 25 WOODLANDS 26 Lowland Mixed Oak and Ash Wood 34 Lowland Dry Oak and Birch Wood 38 Beech Wood 40 Yew Wood 42 Wet Woodland 44 Wood Pasture 48 Atlantic Oak Wood 52 Upland Mixed Ash Wood 56 Caledonian Forest 58 Atlantic Hazel Wood 62 Upland Birch Wood 64 Coniferous Plantation 66 SCRUB 68 Mixed Scrub 72 Hedgerow 74 Bracken 78 HEATHLANDS 80 Lowland Dry Heath 86 Maritime Heath 90 Dune Heath 90 Breckland Heath 91 Shingle Heath 91 Limestone Heath 91 Lowland Wet Heath 92 Upland Dry Heath 94 Upland Wet Heath 98 GRASSLANDS 100 Lowland Calcareous Grassland 108 Lowland Dry Acid Grassland 112 Lowland Meadow and Pasture 114 Purple Moor-grass and Rush Pasture 116 Coastal and Floodplain Grazing Marsh 118 Upland Calcareous Grassland 122 Northern Hay Meadow 124 Upland Rush Pasture 126 Upland Acid Grassland 128 Calaminarian Grassland 130 BritainsHabitats BOOKindd 3 05/08/2014 14:50 MOUNTAINS 132 Montane Dwarf-shrub Heath 136 High Montane Heath and Snow-bed 140 Mountain Ledge 144 Montane Scrub > 146 ROCKY HABITATS 148 Rocky Slopes 152 Scree 154 Limestone Pavement 156 WETLANDS 160 Blanket Bog 168 Raised Bog 172 Upland Spring and Flush 174 Lowland Fen 176 Valley Mire 180 Reedbed 184 FRESHWATERS 188 Nutrient-rich (Eutrophic) Lake 196 Upland Lake, Loch and Tarn 198 Peat-stained (Dystrophic) Waters 200 Turlough and Fluctuating Mere 202 Mesotrophic Lake 204 Marl Lake 204 Lowland Nutrient-poor Lake 205 Brackish Lake 205 Pond 206 Ditch 208 Canal 210 Fast-flowing River and Stream 212 Sluggish River and Stream 214 Chalk River and Stream 216 COASTAL HABITATS 218 Mudflat and Sandflat 224 Saltmarsh 226 Sand Dune 228 Machair 232 Coastal Vegetated Shingle 234 Saline Lagoon 238 Rocky Shore 240 Soft Cliff 242 Hard Cliff and Cliff Slope 244 OTHER HABITATS 248 Arable 250 Brownfield 252 Traditional Orchard 254 Habitat Correspondence Tables 256 Species referred to in the text 266 Photographic Credits 273 Map Credits 274 Acknowledgements 275 Index 276