Tayside is richly blessed with upland
habitats straddling as it does the Highland Boundary Fault.
Of the habitat types for which Action Plans have been included,
the montane habitat encompasses a large area - from the entrance
to the Cairngorm Plateau through the Angus Glens in the north-east,
to Schiehallion in the west. Schiehallion itself is one of
the finest and best known of Scottish mountains, not because
of its height (1,083m), but because of its distinctive conical
shape. This led to its claim to fame as it was used in the
1770s in experiments to judge the weight of the Earth. During
these experiments Charles Hutton also invented contour lines
as an aid to surveying the mountain.
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for the particular section of interest
The dwarf shrub heaths which make up Tayside’s upland heathland contribute
9% to the total Scottish area of this habitat. As they are largely confined to
the UK and the western seaboard of Europe, they have international conservation
significance. They also encompass a large area within Tayside - from the Angus
grouse moors through the Forests of Alyth and Atholl, across the Forest of Clunie
and north to the Drummochter Hills.
These habitats support
a range of flora and fauna, including Mountain hare, Golden
eagle and Red grouse which are very familiar to us as being
representative of Scotland in general and Tayside in particular.
At the same time the sub-arctic conditions of the montane habitat
hosts species not found anywhere else in Britain and in some
cases they form very significant percentages of the world population.
Alpine gentian, the evocatively-named Blue dew moss, and some
lichens and other mosses are amongst those whose only UK site
is in Tayside.
It is because of this mix of the exceptional and the commonplace that the Tayside
upland habitats are so special and deserving of our best efforts to conserve
them. Not only do they provide a local asset much enjoyed on a recreational basis
by the people of Tayside, they are also a national asset and are in no small
part responsible for attracting the many visitors from both home and abroad who
come to enjoy this area’s outstanding natural heritage.
