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Moorland in the Pennines (England); Coarse grasses and bracken tend to dominate especially in high rainfall areas.

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas, characterised by acidic soils. Moorland habitats are most extensive in the neotropics and tropical Africa but also occur in small scattered locations in northern and western Europe, Northern Australia, North America, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. Most of the world's moorlands are very diverse ecosystems. The tiny areas of European moorlands however tend to be species-poor environments and often dominated by heather. In the far more extensive moorlands of the tropics species diversity can be extremely high.

Moorlands differ from typical heathland in being colder and much wetter, often with extensive bogs, giving rise to a different mix of associated fauna. In Europe this fauna consists of bird species such as Red Grouse, Hen Harrier, Merlin, Golden Plover, Curlew, Sky Lark, Meadow Pipit, Whinchat, Ring Ouzel and Twite. Other species of course dominate in moorlands elsewhere. Reptiles are few due to the cooler conditions. In Europe only the Common Viper is frequent, though in other regions moorlands are commonly home to dozens of reptile species. Amphibians such as frogs are well represented in moorlands. When moorland is overgrazed by excessive numbers of sheep or deer or cattle, or yaks, or buffalo or vicuna, woody vegetation is often lost, being replaced by coarse, unpalatable grasses and bracken, with a greatly reduced fauna.

Moorland of Kilimanjaro

A variety of distinct habitat types are found in different world regions. The wildlife and vegetation forms often lead to high endemism because of the severe soil and microclimate characteristics of moorlands. For example in Exmoor, the rare species of Exmoor Pony is found, who has adapted to the harsh arid conditions of that environment. Some hill sheep breeds such as Scottish Blackface thrive on the austere conditions of heather moors.^[1]

In more northerly latitudes, moorland is also found in lowland areas in the Scottish Highlands, Iceland and Norway; in the far north where trees do not grow naturally, moorland grades into natural tundra.

Notable areas of upland moorland in Britain include the Dark Peak, the Forest of Bowland, the Lake District, the Pennines, Mid Wales, the Southern Uplands of Scotland, the Scottish Highlands and a very small pockets in western Herefordshire.

• Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, UK
• Curry and Hay Moors, Somerset, UK
• Dartmoor, and Dartmoor wildlife, Devon, UK
• Emley Moor, West Yorkshire, UK
• Exmoor,
• Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire, UK
• Marston Moor and North York Moors, North Yorkshire, UK
• Rannoch Moor, Highland, Scotland, UK
• Rombalds Moor, West Yorkshire, UK
• Saddleworth Moor, Pennine hills, UK
• Shropshire Hills, small pockets of moorland,
• Staffordshire Moorlands
• Ythan Estuary complex, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, largest coastal moorland in the United Kingdom, known for high biodiversity.

There are numerous moorlands outside the UK; some other notable examples are:

• Tanner Moor, Austria

The small and unrepresentaive Anthropogenic moorland of Europe would slowly revert to other types of vegetation such as woodland were it not for scrub and saplings being periodically removed, usually by controlled burning. This is of course not true for the vast majority of the world's moorlands. Mechanical cutting of the heather has been used in Europe, but it is important the material is removed to avoid smothering regrowth. In Europe it has been found that heather seeds germinate better if subject to the brief heat of controlled burning.

In Europe if the heather and other vegetation is left for too long, a large volume of dry and combustible material builds up. This is may cause a wildfire which may burn out a large area. However, generally moorland wildlife has evolved to cope with even major fires and are easily able to recover if such intense burnings are not too frequent.

1. ^ Camilla Bonn: 'That Jack Cunningham wants half of us out of farming', in Country Life, 15 January 1998, pp 28-35

• Exmoor pony