Upland Heath

 

This is land that sits above the upper edge of the enclosed farmland, generally around 300m and below the alpine or montane zone at around 600m.
It is found on mineral soils and thin peats of less than 0.5m deep.

Upland heath (.PDF 177.94Kb) includes both dry and wet heathlands, depending on local environmental conditions.
Wet heaths are widespread but usually found in the wetter north and west, and often on the lower slopes of hills and mountains that are either too steep or too deep for peat accumulation.

  Wildlife

Upland heath is characterised by the presence of dwarf scrubs such as heather, cross-leaved heath, bell heather and bilberry. Confusion can be caused with which habitat you happen to be standing on as all these dwarf shrubs also grow on blanket bog.
The best clue lies below your feet, if the peat is less than 0.5m thick then you are on heath, more than this and it is most likely to be blanket bog. In addition, hare's tail, cotton grass and bog mosses generally grow on blanket bog and not on heath.

Dry heaths usually have a dominance of dwarf scrubs such as heather, cross-leaved heath, bell heather, bilberry and crowberry, which generally cover the majority of the heath if it is in good health. Bilberry and crowberry produce small edible berries.

Wet heaths have an upper layer dominated by a combination of heather, cross-leaved heath, deer grass and purple-moor grass. The lichen Cladonia can also be found.
The spreading form of juniper is sometimes found amongst the dwarf shrubs at higher altitudes and on scarp slopes.
Wet heaths can be extremely variable and the plants found there depend on local conditions. Upland heath provides a feeding ground and shelter to the rare priority species, argent and sable moth, sword-grass moth, red grouse, curlew, hen harrier and Irish hare.

Distribution

Found mainly in the Antrim Hills, Sperrin Mountains, Mourne Mountains, Ring of Gullion and the scarp slopes of western Fermanagh, where some heathland sites cover the border with the Republic of Ireland.

Places to visit

Divis Mountain, Belfast and Slieve Donard, in the Mourne Mountains.