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The vegetation of the moor house national nature reserve in the northern Pennines, England

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Summary

The vegetation of a 40 km2 area in northern England, ranging in altitude from 300 to 850 m, is described. Sheep graze the whole area and influence the composition of most vegetation types. Trees are absent. Blanket bog poor in species predominates and grassy communities on acidic ill-drained soils have considerable extent. There are also limestone outcrops which give rise to Agrosto-Festucetum on mineral soils and a variety of species-rich bryophytic and herbaceous cummunities in eutrophic flushes. An attempt has been made to relate the vegetation units to the classifications used in central Europe.

Zusammenfassung

Die Vegetation von einem 40 km2 großen Gebiet in Nordengland, auf Höhen von 300 bis 850 m, wird beschrieben. Schafe grasen auf dem ganzen Gebiet und bestimmen die Zusammensetzung der meisten Vegetationstypen. Bäume sind nicht vorhanden. Artenarmes Hochmoor prädominiert und Gras-Gesellschaften auf saurem, schlecht-entwässertem Boden kommen in beträchtlichem Ausmaß vor. Es gibt auch an die Oberfläche tretenden Kalkstein, der das Entstehen von Agrosto-Festucetum auf Mineralboden veranlasst und eine Mannigfaltigkeit von Moos- und Krautgesellschaften, die darin auf eutrophem Torfboden vielerlei Arten haben. Ein Versuch ist gemacht worden, die Vegetationseinheiten in die in Mitteleuropa gebräuchlichen Klassifikationen einzuordnen.

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Eddy, A., Welch, D. & Rawes, M. The vegetation of the moor house national nature reserve in the northern Pennines, England. Vegetatio Acta Geobot 16, 239–284 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257019

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