Stella & Rose's Books

Contents

• Editor's Preface
• Author's Preface
• 1. 'A Waste and Barren Land'
• The 'image' of heathland
• Definitions, and the scope of the book
• 2. The Basic Requirements
• Heathland zones and distribution
• The influence of climate, soils, geology
• 3. A Primeval Landscape?
• Early views on the origins of heathland
• Pollen analysis - and the findings
• Heathland pollen profiles
• 4. The Influence of Man
• Farming, settlement, land-use and the effects
• The documentary evidence, grazing, fuel-gathering, etc
• 5. British Lowland Heaths
• Flora, fauna, and distinctive, characteristics of individual 'plant' communities
• 6. Heathland Plant Communities
• The pattern of vegetations. The categories of heathland plant communities
• 7. The Dynamics of Heathland Vegetation
• The patters of change, and succession. Production and decomposition. Nutrients. The effects of fire, and post-fire succession
• 8. The Heathers
• Distributions, characteristics, germinations, life history
• 9. Other Heathland Plants
• Plants of dry heath, wet and humid heath
• Gorses, whins and brooms. Insectivorous plants
• 10. Heathland Invertebrates
• Species and ecology, Ants, Spiders, grasshoppers, dragonflies, beetles and bugs. Heather beetle, butterflies and moths
• 11. Heathland Vertebrates
• Species and ecology. Amphibians and reptiles, birds, mammals
• 12. What the Future Holds
• The science of ecology. Conservation managements, restoration. Criteria for selecting reserves. Burning. Brackens. Scrub control. Protection of individual species. Recreation and amenity.
• References for Further Reading
• Heathland Nature Reserves
• Index