The Flow Country - The peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland
(1988)
Discontinued
R A Lindsay, D J Charman, F Everingham, R M O'Reilly, M A Palmer, T A Rowell and D A Stroud
Summary
This NCC publication is one of two which describes the nature
conservation interest and importance of the
Flow Country, in
Caithness and Sutherland, northern Scotland. This area is now
recognised as the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe and the
report provided the first global review of the extent of this
peatland type. The Flow Country is of outstanding importance,
both nationally and internationally. These peatlands are three
times larger than any other in either Britain or Ireland. The
scale and diversity of the habitat is unique, and the total size
and range of bird species present, and other aspects of the fauna,
is of international importance. At the time of publication,
in the mid-1980s, this area was suffering from widespread
afforestation.
Part of the area now falls
within the
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands SAC, the Caithness and
Sutherland Peatlands SPA , and the Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Ramsar
site.
This 1988 review summarised
NCC’s detailed surveys of peatland vegetation in the Flow Country,
and is complementary to a 1987 publication Birds, bogs and
forestry: the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland
which outlined the ornithological importance of this area, and
documented and called for a halt to the destructive afforestation
which was then occurring.
This report was published as
a companion with Birds, Bogs & Forestry.
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Download The Flow Country The peatlands of Caithness
and Sutherland in sections:
-
- Acknowledgement
Introduction
Chapter 1 The development and hydrology of mire
systems
Chapter 2 Classification of mire systems
Chapter 3 Climate and world blanket bog
distribution
- Download Part IIa The peatlands of Caithness
and Sutherland (PDF, 3.3 mb) This section includes
-
Download Part IIb The peatlands of Caithness
and Sutherland (PDF, 3.2 mb) This section
includes
- Chapter 9 Mire features of note in Caithness
and Sutherland
Chapter 10 Analysis of vegetation
communities
Chapter 11 Distribution of notable plant
species
Chapter 12 Analysis of site types
Chapter 13 The definition of nature
conservation requirements
- Download Part III The freshwater habitats of
Caithness and Sutherland (PDF, 1.9 mb) This section
includes
-
Download Part IV This section
includes (PDF, 2.2 mb)
- Chapter 17 The ornithological importance of
the Caithness and Sutherland blanket bogs
Chapter 18 The amalgamation of
different conservation interests in the Caithness and Sutherland
peatland
- Download Annex and
Reference (PDF, 2.9 mb)
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Reader to view this document.
Please cite as: R A Lindsay, D J Charman, F Everingham, R M O'Reilly, M A Palmer, T A Rowell and D A Stroud, (1988), The Flow Country - The peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland, Edited by D A Ratcliffe and P H Oswald