The James Hutton Institute
This page is no longer updated. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute joined forces with SCRI on 1 April 2011 to create The James Hutton Institute.
THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005
12. DEVELOPMENT DIVERSIFICATION AND LAND USE CHANGE INCLUDING ENERGY CROPS
LAND USE CHANGES AND HABITAT LOSSES
In 1988 about 60% of Scotland ’s land cover was semi-natural vegetation. This followed a decline of about 17% over the period since 1945 (Mackey et al., 1998; SNH, 2001a). Forest plantations on sites with acid grassland, mire, heather moorland and former woodland habitats accounted for over 81% of this decline. The bulk of the remainder (13%) related to loss of acid grassland and heather moorland habitats though pasture improvements by liming, fertilizing and reseeding. Both these major changes were grant-aided and government support for such schemes is no longer available.
The UK has been subdivided into 37 broad habitats for the purposes of biodiversity action planning and monitoring ( Jackson , 2000). The latest Countryside Survey (Haines-Young et al., 2000) indicates that between 1990 and 1998 there continued to be losses in acid grassland (-4.9%), dwarf shrub heath (-5.4%) and neutral grassland (-14.8%) habitats but there were statistically significant increases in fen, marsh and swamp (18.7%) and broadleaved woodland (9.0%). These changes are thought to be a positive reflection of changes in government policy and support mechanisms for forestry and agriculture.
CHANGES IN ARABLE AND MIXED FARMLAND HABITATS
Since 1945, changes in agricultural practices particularly through increased mechanization and specialization and the design of CAP subsidies have had a significant effect in arable settings with the west of Scotland becoming predominantly pastoral and the eastern lowlands arable. The associated effects of these changes in terms of declines in arable weed species and farmland birds are well documented (Mackey et al., 2001). Hedgerows reduced by 50% between 1947 and 1988 (Mackey et al., 1998). However there is no evidence of further losses of these features between 1990 and 1998 (Haines-Young et al., 2000) although mixed farming has continued to decline throughout this period (Birnie et al., 2002). The changing focus of agricultural support and the requirements of GAEC suggest that further significant losses of landscape structure in arable settings are unlikely over the next decade.
CHANGES IN GRASSLAND HABITATS >>