Natural Heritage in the Forth & Borders

The beautiful scenery and diverse wildlife of Scotland is not confined to the Highlands. The south- east of Scotland is home to a great diversity of habitats and species as well as stunning landscapes. Unlike the Highlands however, much of this richness is found in relatively small packets within the intensively farmed landscapes of Fife, Falkirk and the Lothians. The Borders’ hills provide a larger scale of landscape with some correspondingly larger areas of less intensively managed semi-natural habitats.

Woodland

Before mankind arrived in the region around 5000BC the south-east of Scotland would have been mainly covered in forests of oak, ash, elm and birch. Only small fragments of these ancient woodlands have survived in the Forth & Borders area, and are mostly confined to steep valley sides which escaped felling, grazing and burning. ©

On higher ground birch and rowan are the commonest species while at lower altitudes oak and hazel are more dominant with alder and willow in wetter areas. Ash and wych elm dominate many of the river valleys andare richest for plant life with as many as 300 species of flowering plants, ferns and mosses recorded from some sites. The oldest woodlands tend to support the highest biodiversity, with spring carpets of bluebells, wild garlic, wood anemones, dog’s mercury and lesser celandine indicating ancient woodland sites.

Dead wood, either dead branches still attached to living trees or standing or fallen dead trees, are a vital part of all woodland ecoystems providing food and shelter for a huge variety of fungi, lichens, mosses, beetles and woodpeckers.

Far more extensive than the remaining deciduous woodlands are the large areas of conifer plantations found throughout the area, with particularly large areas of pine, larch and spruce forests in the Borders. These contain a much smaller variety of plants and animals than the native woodlands although they do provide home to some species such as red squirrels, crossbills, goldcrests and coal tits.

In recent years many small new woodlands have been planted in and around our towns and cities and in the surrounding farmland. These provide valuable habitats for urban birds, and larger animals such as foxes, badgers and roe deer, as well as being important recreational areas for people.

Hills and moors

Mankind has also transformed the Borders uplands from scrub woodland to heather moorland and grassland. ‘Muirburn’ involves burning old heather to encourage the growth of new shoots on grouse moors keeps these areas treeless. So too does intensive sheep grazing which also kills heather replacing traditional heath vegetation with bracken and grasses. Montane species grow in high gullies or north-facing hollows that can harbour snow until as late as May or June. Afforestation of much of the Borders moorland has meant a decrease in such species as raven, merlin, peregrine and hen harrier. However, the rare goshawk that prefers the close cover of forestry, is re-establishing itself well around forest edges. Red grouse are carefully managed for sport on heather hills in the Moorfoot and Lammermuir Hills. These hills also provide important sites for breeding waders such asdunlin, golden plover and curlews. The adder, Scotland’s only poisonous snake, has its home on the drier grassy slopes. Mountain hares, extinct in the Borders since the 18th century, were reintroduced in the 1850s. Growing a white coat for camouflage in winter, these beautiful creatures live in the Moorfoot, Lammermuir and Tweedsmuir Hills.

Grassland

Grasslands were created when the ancient forests were cleared for livestock to graze. This created large numbers of meadows rich in wildflowers, butterflies and birds such as skylarks and partridges. However, as the use of herbicides and fertilisers has increased,much of these species rich grassland have declined, or been ploughed up, over the last 50 years. What remains is often confined to roadsides, rocky cliffs and knolls where tractors and livestock have not been able to reach.

 

Freshwaters

The Forth and Borders area has few large natural lochs although there are plenty of reservoirs and smaller ponds. Many of these reservoirs are over a century old and have well established reedbeds and populations of aquatic plants and are often home to a rich diversity of waterbirds such as wintering geese and breeding gulls, ducks, grebes, etc. Farm ponds can also be important habiats for water loving species such as dragonflies and newts. Sadly, as farming practices are modernised many of these traditional ponds are disappearing. However, some farmers keep their ponds especially for their biodiversity. Many ponds have also been created in gardens in our urban areas and these can provide important wildlife habitats.

The rivers of south-east Scotland were used as open sewers by urban populations and industry for many centuries. Fortunately improved environmental legislation has controlled most of this pollution and our rivers have now returned to good health; once again alive with characteristic species such as trout, otters, and wagtails. By far our biggest river system is the River Tweed and its tributaries in the Borders, famous for salmon fishing.

 

Bogs and fens

Fens are wet areas which have formed in the many hollows and lochans left by retreating ice sheets after the last Ice Age. They support a wide range of plants like waterlilies, mares’ tails and horsetails, sedges, orchids and willows.Fens turn into bogs where sphagnum mosses grow and accumulate and over thousands of years turn into peat

An astonishing variety of insects reside in bogs and fens. There are many species of dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies and moths as well as over 50 species of water beetles. Not only are bogs and fens teaming with life, but where peat exists they are ecological history books. Peat is a great preservative cocooning things like pollen, seeds, animals and even human remains in a time capsule. Unfortunately many bogs have been destroyed be being drained to turn into agricultural land and also by peat digging, historically for fuel and more recently for garden compost.

Coast

The Forth esturay has long been a focus for human activity, providing fish, shellfish, reclaimed land for agriculture and sites for power stations and the oil industry. It is also incredibly rich in wildlife with internationally important populations of wintering waders such as golden plover, knot, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit, oystercatcher, redshank and dunlin and waterfowl, including pink-footed geese, eider ducks, shelduck, scoters, divers and grebes.

The offshore islands, and a few coastal sites such as St Abbs Head, support huge numbers of breeding seabirds in the summer. The two most important islands are the Isle of May with over 100,000 puffins and the Bass Rock, the world’s third largest northern gannet colony with almost 100,000 breeding adults. Other seabirds species include guilliemots, razorbills, shags, kittiwakes and fulmars. Terns have disappeared from most of the offshore islands as gull numbers have soared. However, one site where they are thriving is a small concrete island in the middle of Leith Docks where up to 700 pairs of common terns breed.

Whales and dolphins are uncommon here but grey seals are abundant with up to 5000 females coming ashore every autumn on the Isle of May to give birth.

The marine life of the Forth Estuary is relatively limited but further east is the St Abbs Voluntary Marine Nature Reserve run by a committee of interested parties including divers, fishermen, community councils, the National Trust for Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Borders Council and SNH. This part of the coast supports a huge diversity of marine life due to the fact that warm southern waters intermingle with the cold Arctic currents. Soft corals, dead mens’ fingers, anemones and sea cucumbers are amongst the astonishing variety of species that can be found here as observers.

Farming

Farming is the area’s main land use, ranging from the large, mostly arable farms of the east coast lowlands, to dairy and hill sheep farms. SNH’s goal is to ensure that protection of Scotland’s rich natural heritage progresses in tandem with the economic needs of the country’s farmers. Within the Forth and Borders area are two Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Whitlaw and Eildon and the Central Southern Uplands. Within these areas, farmers are paid for farming in an environmentally friendly way, thus securing a sustainable and economically viable agricultural industry. SNH also works with farmers on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to manage the land to benefit the special habitats and species for which the site is designated. We can make payments for positive land management under our Natural Care schemes.

Besides working closely with individual farmers, SNH works with the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG).

Doorstep diversity

Kestrels, foxes, roe deer, sparrow hawks, dragonflies, buddleia, rosebay willowherb - not, in fact, a roll call of birds, animals, insects and plants found in rural areas, but just a few that may well inhabit the heart of our towns and cities. SNH works hard, along with local authorities, voluteers, school children and local residents, to protect and enhance urban natural heritage..Local Biodiversity Action Plans help to protect and encourage the development of ‘natural’ areas in the urban areas as well as enabling people to enjoy and learn from their local environment. Quite apart from anything, wildspaces and wildlife help to relieve the stresses of city life and offer a chance to get away from the noise and bustle of the urban environment.

Geology and landscapes

South-east Scotland displays much of the country’s scenic variety in one small region. The distinctive volcanic hills rising from Edinburgh and the undulating countryside of Fife and the Lothians; the rounded Lammermuir hills; the long narrow valleys of the Tweed and its tributaries and the gently rolling lowlands of the Merse to the rugged granite hills of the Cheviot along the English border are all part of that diversity.

The coastline comprises a fascinating and beautiful mix of estuarine mudflats, long sandy beaches and rugged headlands, cliffs and islands. Many of the rocky coastlines provide excellent places to see fine examples of Scotland’s geological past with a spectacular array of volcanic features intuded into the surrounding sedimentary layers.

Many of the rocks which characterise these landscapes came from the seabed of a vanished sub-tropical ocean which separated the two halves of Britain over 400 million years ago. Since that time volcanoes, deserts, swamps, rivers, seas and glaciers have all combined to produce the amazingly varied landscapes that we can see today.

Of particular importance to the regions economic history have been the rich coal bearing rocks found throughout much of the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk. This coal was formed from the remains of vast tropical swampy forests which dominated the area over 300 million years ago. The oil-bearing shales of West Lothian were also mined and the legacy of this industry are the distinctive red shale bings found here.

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