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Scottish Uplands: Romantic Wilderness or Devastated Wasteland?

Forest Research
December 06, 2013

Scottish Uplands: Romantic Wilderness or Devastated Wasteland?

by Helen Armstrong- Broomhill Ecology

Forest Research

December 06, 2013
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Transcript

  1. The Scottish Uplands: • What are they like now? •

    What has shaped them? (romantic wilderness or devastated wasteland?) • Where should we take them?
  2. The Scottish uplands Photo: Gerald England • Awe-inspiring • Remote

    • Lonely • Beautiful • Wild • Tranquil
  3. Grouse and deer Grouse moor Grouse moor / red deer

    forest Red deer forest Source: Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
  4. Forestry 18% of land area is forest 78% of this

    is coniferous 2% of land area is ancient, semi- natural woodland
  5. The Scottish uplands Scotland’s breathtaking and stunning glens are unique

    and inspiring places which have remained unchanged for thousands of years. Visit Scotland (2013) Photo: Gerald England
  6. 9000 BC Last ice age ends Tundra dwarf willow, birch,

    juniper First humans – hunter /gatherers 4000 BC Source: Oosthoek 2013 6000 BC Trees colonise hazel, birch, willow, Scots pine, aspen then oak, elm, alder 8000 BC Greatest woodland extent 3000 BC The Scottish uplands: Woodland history 9000 BC -1000 AD
  7. The Scottish uplands: Woodland history 9000 BC -1000 AD Source:

    Oosthoek 2013 Greatest woodland extent: ~60% Last ice age ends Tundra dwarf willow, birch, juniper First humans – hunter /gatherers 9000 BC 6000 BC 8000 BC 4000 BC 3000 BC Trees colonise hazel, birch, willow, Scots pine, aspen then oak, elm, alder Climate gets colder and wetter Woodland clearance for farming Scots pine woodland shrinks woodland clearings larger and more permanent 1000 AD 2000 BC 0 AD More agriculture and clearing Romans in Scotland About half of woodland cleared: ~25% cover
  8. The Scottish uplands: Woodland history 1000 - 1900 Source: Oosthoek

    2013 1000 Woodland cover ~20% 1400 Construction timber increasingly imported 1300 1200 Construction timber in Perth comes from Highlands 1100 1900 1800 1700 1600 Charcoal production from western oakwoods Tanbark production from western oakwoods 1500 Two acts passed to halt deforestation Woodland cover declining Sheep replace cattle in Lowlands and Highlands Remaining woodlands coppiced, pollarded and used for wood pasture until ~ 1750 ~9% Woodland cover ~6%
  9. Increased creation of commercial plantations 1850 The Scottish uplands: woodland

    history 1800 - present 1900 Source: Oosthoek 2013 Woodland cover at lowest extent ~6% Woodland cover ~18% 1800 Increased felling of native pinewoods Timber price collapses: increased sport shooting and sheep farming Creation of plantations of exotic conifers Woodland cover ~9% 2000 1950 Forestry Commission created
  10. Unintended consequences • Nutrient losses from soils • Acidification of

    soils • Peat formation • Soil erosion and landslides • Reduced carbon sequestration • Silting up of lochs and reservoirs • Flooding • Drying out of soils • Lack of natural tree and shrub regeneration • Spread of rough grasses and bracken • Loss of salmon spawning grounds • Loss of shelter for deer and domestic stock • Loss of biodiversity
  11. Unintended consequences Century of extinction Lynx 2nd or 3rd Aurochs

    (wild ox) 9th or 10th Brown Bear 10th Reindeer 12th Moose 12th Beaver 16th Wild horse 17th Wild boar 17th Wolf 18th Red squirrel ~1810 (later re-introduced) Polecat ~1915
  12. Unintended consequences Eradication of ‘vermin’ 1837 -1840 on one estate

    in the Cairngorms: 246 Martens, 198 Wild Cats, 106 Polecats, 67 Badgers, 58 Otters, 475 Ravens, 462 Kestrels, 371 Rough-legged Buzzards, 285 Common Buzzards, 275 Kites, 98 Peregrine Falcons, 92 Hen Harriers, 78 Merlins, 71 Short-eared Owls, 63 Goshawks, 35 Long-eared Owls, 27 Sea Eagles, 18 Ospreys, 15 Golden Eagles, 11 Hobbys, 6 Gyrfalcons, 5 Marsh Harriers, 3 Honey Buzzards, 11 Foxes, 301 Stoats and Weasels, 78 House Cats, 1,431 Hooded or Carrion Crow, 3 Barn Owls, 8 Magpies and 7 "Orange-legged Falcons"
  13. The Scottish uplands The bald, unpalatable fact is that the

    Highlands and Islands are largely a devastated terrain Sir Frank Fraser Darling (1955) The West Highland Survey Photo: Gerald England