Moorland in the Exmoor National Park

The moorland looks bleak and wild but it was made by man when he cut down the virgin forest to make way for grazing. Most people think of moorland when they think of Exmoor. About a quarter of Exmoor National Park is open uncultivated moor and heath lying between 305 m (1000 ft) and 519 m (1700 ft) above sea level. Moors are found on wet, acid soil. There are grass moors where many grasses and sedges grow, including purple moor grass and deer sedge, and heather moors with mainly ling.

Heaths are found on free-draining soil. Ling and bell heather grow there along with gorse, whortleberry and bracken. The moorland appears natural and undisturbed but it was partly created by human beings who destroyed the prehistoric woods on the hills by cutting down trees and grazing domestic animals. In order to keep moorland we need to stop small trees and bushes growing there. This is done by swaling or burning the vegetation on the moor and by grazing. It is very important that swaling takes place at the right time of year before birds build their nests and reptiles come out of hibernation, and not too often or grass and bracken will take over from the heather.

The Exmoor pony, though not strictly wild, roams the moors and the sharp-eyed may see red deer. Birds include the soaring sky-lark with its trembling, high-pitched song, snipe and kestrels. You might see a buzzard swooping after its prey. The merlin is a rarity.

Exmoor is regionally important for the extent of its upland and coastal heaths, upland grass moor and blanket bog. Exmoor's moors and heaths support nationally important populations of whinchat, stonechat, Dartford warbler and heath fritillary butterfly. The most diverse and valuable parts of moors and heaths are often the fringe areas where there is a transition between different habitats such as woodland and heath. A few species such as nightjar benefit from these transitional habitats but there has to be a balance between allowing succession to progress in some areas and reversing it in others. Farmland also provides a series of important habitats in the National Park. For instance unploughed grasslands support numerous plants and animals including butterflies, bats - which feed on the insects - and rare waxcap fungi. Waxcap fungi are also of conservation interest as indicators of good quality grasslands. They thrive in short, moss-rich, often highly grazed swards. Although waxcap grasslands are generally under-recorded in Devon, Exmoor is known to hold nationally important populations.

Another important habitat in farmland is provided by boundary features such field margins and hedgerows, providing refuges for wild plants and shelter and nest sites for birds, mammals and invertebrates. Traditionally, Exmoor's hedgerows are managed on a laying cycle to maintain them as a stockproof barrier. This provides hedgerows at differing stages of management across the landscape and a consequent range of habitats.

Contributed  by: John M