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The Coversands Heathland has a very diverse range of
habitat types and exhibit a much greater number of mosaics than the heaths
of southern England, which tend to be dominated by heather. Characteristic
of the Coversands are the extensive communities of acid grassland, some
of which contain lichen heath, ling heather and inland sand sedge. As
such they bear a great resemblance to the heathlands found in the Brecklands
of Norfolk and Suffolk and the Suffolk Sandlings. Distinctive features
of the Coversands include the following:
Wet heath are found where the
underlying rocks or clay prevent water drainage, or where the water
table is naturally high and near the surface. The number and types of
species present depends on the level of moisture in the soil - the wetter
the soil, the greater the number of animals and plants. Plants found
on wet heath include cross-leaved heath, purple moor grass, cotton grass,
sundews and several types of Sphagnum moss. The nationally rare marsh
gentian can be found, heath-spotted orchid and ragged robin. Wet heaths
provide a transitional habitat between heath and bog and can be found
at Manton and Twigmoor. This site
contains valley mire unique in North
Lincolnshire. Further South,wet heath is particularly p
revalent in areas
of Laughton Forest, as well as at Kirkby Moor and Moor Farm. Unfortunately
with the encroachment of commercial forestry into the area, coupled
with succession to scrub many sites of wet heath have dried out through
evapo-transpiration losses. Agricultural drainage on adjacent farmland
has further exacerbated this.
Dry heather heath are often characterised by extensive
tracts of heathers, in particular, ling heather and also western gorse
a species more associated with heaths on the coast of the western UK.
Examples of the latter can be found within the Laughton Forest complex.
You will find dry heaths where the soils are free-draining and where
the water table remains below the surface. On dry heath the most common
shrubs are common heather (or ling), bell heather, cross-leaved heath
and the 3 species of gorse (common, western and dwarf). Grasses such
as bristle bent and sheep's fescue will be seen.
Calcareous heathland - occurring where the Jurassic
limestone deposits are close to the surface such as in areas of Risby
Warren, which not only contains acidic and calcareous heathland, but
also one of the finest inland dune systems in Britain. The inland sand
dunes found nowhere else apart from the Brecklands, allow many species
associated with the coast to prosper, including sand sedge and many
coastal invertebrates.
Acidic grass heath - these are a major feature
of the Coversands lowland heath, with the 'parched acid heathland' of
national importance. These habitats are often lichen rich, with the
habitat balance maintained by intensive grazing, often by rabbits. Risby
Warren and the Messingham heaths contain particularly fine examples
of this habitat type.
Within such an unusual habitat mix, an unusual flora
and fauna has survived on the Coversands as a relic of what must once
have been a much commoner feature.
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