Condition Assessment Criteria

A

The parcel represents a good example of its habitat type - the appearance and composition of the vegetation closely matches its UKHab description, with vascular and non-vascular characteristic indicator species consistently present.1
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Note - this criterion is essential for achieving Good condition.

B

There are at least two dwarf shrub species Frequent2, and cover of dwarf shrubs is between 25-75% for lowland heathland, 50-75% for upland dry heath, or >20% for upland wet heath.
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Note - this criterion is essential for achieving Good condition.

C

All heather Calluna vulgaris age-classes (pioneer, degenerate and mature) present with at least 10% pioneer heather in the lowlands or at least 10% degenerate or mature in the uplands.
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Note - this criterion is essential for achieving Good condition.

D

Unshaded bare ground is between 1-10%.
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Note - this criterion is essential for achieving Good condition.

E

There is an absence of invasive non-native plant species listed on Schedule 9 of WCA3 and shallon Gaultheria shallon4.
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Note - this criterion is essential for achieving Good condition.

F

No signs of disturbance of sensitive areas5, including managed burns.

G

No more than 33% of heather shoots have been recently grazed, or flowering heather plants are at least Frequent2 in autumn.

H

The canopy cover of scattered trees and or scrub (not including gorse Ulex spp.) is:
• less than 20% for upland heaths;
• less than 15% for lowland dry heaths; and
• less than 10% for lowland wet heaths.

I

Total gorse cover is less than 50%, with common gorse Ulex europaeus less than 25%.

J

The cover of bracken Pteridium aquilinum is less than 5%6.

K

No signs of any damaging activities7 or contamination to the habitat such as: artificial drains, peat extraction, silt, leachate or eutrophication.

Condition Assessment Result (out of 11 criteria)

Condition Assessment Score

Passes 9 - 11 criteria including all essential criteria A - E.

Good (3)

Passes 7 or 8 criteria;
OR
Passes 9 - 10 criteria but fails any essential criteria (criteria A - E).

Moderate (2)

Passes 6 or fewer criteria.

Poor (1)

Footnote 1 – Professional judgement should be used alongside the UKHab description.
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Footnote 2 – According to the relative abundance DAFOR scale – Dominant, Abundant, Frequent, Occasional or Rare.
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Footnote 3 – Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended).
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Footnote 4 – Assess this for each distinct habitat parcel. If the distribution of invasive non-native species varies across the habitat, split into parcels accordingly, applying a buffer zone around the invasive non-native species with a size relative to its risk of spread into adjacent habitat, using professional judgement.
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Footnote 5 – Professional judgement should be used to assess this and evidence should be provided according to the INSTRUCTIONS Tab of this spreadsheet.
Definition of sensitive areas:
(a) Vegetation severely wind-clipped, mostly forming a mat less than 10 cm thick.
(b) Areas where soils are thin and less than 5 cm deep.
(c) Hill slopes greater than 1 in 2 (26o), and all the sides of gullies.
(d) Ground with abundant, and or an almost continuous carpet of Sphagnum moss Sphagnum spp., bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus, liverworts and or lichens.
(e) Areas with noticeably uneven structure, at a spatial scale of around 1 m2 or less. The unevenness (more commonly found in very old heather stands) will relate to distinct, often large, spreading dwarf shrub bushes. The dwarf shrub canopy will not be completely continuous, and some of its upper surface may be twice as high as other parts. Layering is likely to be present and may be common.
(f) Pools, wet hollows, peat haggs and erosion gullies within 10 m of the edge of watercourses.
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Footnote 6 – Cover of bracken may exceed 5% where there is an identified biodiversity benefit, for example bracken beds in the South Pennines as nesting sites for twite Linaria flavirostris.

Footnote 7 – Damaging activities include: accidental or unmanaged fires; managed fires on wet heath; excessive poaching; damage from machinery use or storage; and damaging levels of public access resulting in trampling and or litter.
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Long-term heathland restoration on former grassland: The results of a 17-year experiment, Biological Conservation 144 p1602-1609.

The lowland heathland management handbook, version 2.0. English Nature Science No 11

Impact of heathland restoration and re-creation techniques on soil characteristics and the historic environment. NERR010.

A practical guide to the restoration and management of lowland heathlands. RSPB.

The lowland heathland management handbook, English Nature Science No 8

Role of soils determining sites for lowland heathland reconstruction in England.