1999 Descriptions of Section 9 (hand weeded) on the Heathland Restoration Project site.

Section 9 September 1999 - Heather and gorse in the foreground.

Section 9 is the largest section on the Heathland Restoration Project site. It is more than double the size of any of the other sections.

This section is really a section of two very different halves. The upper half (left) at the western end of the slope was dominated by Heather, Polytrichum formosum, grasses and typical heathland sedges, such as Pill Sedge and Green-ribbed Sedge.

Gorse (mid frame, left) was generally neither very tall nor particularly widespread in this section.

The lower half of the section (left) towards the bottom of the slope, was dominated by brambles, Bracken, rushes and sedges. There was some Heather here, although much less than in the upper half, together with a variety of tree species such cherry, birch and willow.

The lower half is much wetter and is marshy in places. It is likely that this area is wet because it is being affected by the spring line which is very evident in the neighbouring wet woodland area.

Bracken (left) was quite widespread in this section, together with a variety of other ferns, such as Hard Fern and Narrow Buckler Fern.

Bluebells were also present earlier in the year, but had died back by the time of the July survey.

Polytrichum formosum and Thuidium tamarascinum.

Much of the ground layer in the upper half of the section was dominated by mosses, such as Polytrichum formosum (left - upright spikes) and Thuidium tamarascinum (left - fern-like growth form).

Polytrichum formosum had declined considerably in this section. In 1998, it was found in virtually every single quadrat, while in 1999, its % frequency had declined to only 64%.

Species	Overall % frequency		Mean % Cover (all quadrats)
	1999	1998	1999	1998
Silver Birch	72	78	12	12
Heather	69	59	42	26
*Polytrichum formosum*	69	94	52	33
Bramble	66	69	17	10
Green-ribbed Sedge	56	53	12	8
Thuidium tamarascinum	53	53	27	7
Velvet Bent	47	13	12	2
Yorkshire Fog	41	47	9	5
Cherry	41	50	5	7
*Hypnum jutlandicum*	41	19	24	4
Pill Sedge	38	41	5	4
Eurhynchium praelongum	38	3	13	0.5
Common Bent	31	38	8	8
Soft Rush	31	22	10	2
European Gorse	28	25	8	6

Summary:

This section is the largest of all the differently managed sections with at least double the area of the next largest section. It is a section of two very different halves. Four years into the experimental management of the Heathland Restoration Project site, the upper western half of section 9 closely resembled a lowland heath habitat. This upper half was dominated by Silver Birch and Heather, intermingled with heath sedges, Bell Heather and Brambles. Open areas of ground were dominated by carpets of mosses such as Polytrichum formosum.

The lower half of the section, at the bottom of the slope was much wetter and marshy in places. This half was dominated by brambles, Bracken and rushes. Purple Moor grass had become established in one small patch in this lower half of the section.

Comparison with the previous year:

There was not a great deal of change in the dominant plants in this section over the year, with a few exceptions:

The amount of Heather increased.

Velvet Bent trebled in abundance in this section over the intervening year.

Moss cover also increased, with the amount of Eurhynchium praelongum and Hypnum jutlandicum (a heathland moss) increasing considerably.