2.9 The length of drainage ditches increased by 26% and tracks by 23%.
2.10 Table 2 summarises figures for gains and losses in feature types.
Information and Advisory Note Number 119(updated version of No.38) Back to menu
1.1 National Countryside Monitoring Scheme (NCMS) results
have been published for Scotland's land cover in the 1940s, 1970s and 1980s.
These are extrapolated from a stratified random sample which covers 7.5% of the
land area of Scotland. Land cover information relating to 31 area and five
linear features was derived from aerial photographs and mapped at 1:10,000
scale. The maps were digitised and entered into a Geographic Information System
(GIS) in which the data were processed and classified. Statistical programmes
calculated estimates of areas and lengths, together with change within and
interchange between feature types. Accompanying all results are confidence
intervals which indicate the precision of estimates. The project was designed to
identify changes of 10% or more in spatial or linear extent with 95% confidence.
1.2 Summary results for Scotland are shown in Table 1.
2.1 In the 1940s, grassland represented the largest land cover group in
Scotland. Rough grassland was more extensive than the combined areas of
intermediate and smooth grassland. There was little net change in the overall
area although grassland improvement within the group resulted in a shift from
rough to intermediate or smooth grassland.
2.2 Mire (peat forming vegetation cover) was the second largest group in terms
of extent.
The two main categories recorded by the NCMS are blanket mire (both grass and
heather dominated types) and the much more restricted lowland mire. All mire
types experienced a reduction in area over the study period. Heather-dominated
blanket mire was reduced by 8%, grass-dominated by 2% and lowland mire by 27%.
Overall the group was reduced in extent by 6%.
2.3 Heather moorland was the most extensive NCMS feature type in 1940s Scotland,
extending across 19% of the country. By the 1970s it had contracted to 15%.
2.4 There was little overall net change in the arable area.
2.5 The woodland group includes semi-natural and created features. Reductions in
semi-natural woodland contrasts with an expansion in commercial forestry.
Broad-leaved woodland was reduced by 14% and coniferous woodland by 48%.
Conversely, mature conifer plantation increased by 255% and young plantation by
569%.
2.6 In the water group there was a 8%reduction lochs and a 92% increase in
reservoirs. These changes are accounted for by increases in hydroelectric
development, especially in the Highlands.
2.7 Built land increased by 35% and transport corridor (roads and railways) by
12%. Quarries increased by 58%, bare ground by 65% and recreational land by 98%.
2.8 Among the linear features there was a 41% reduction in the length of
hedgerow and a 9% reduction in the length of lines of trees.
TABLE 1: FEATURE ESTIMATES FOR SCOTLAND (1940s-1970s)
TOTAL AREA: 77837 kmē
2.9 The length of drainage ditches increased
by 26% and tracks by 23%.
2.10 Table 2 summarises figures for gains
and losses in feature types.
3.1 The dynamics of change become more apparent when the interchange of gains
and losses between features is viewed (Figure 1).
3.2 Arable and grass rotation as part of the agricultural cycle results in a
large interchange between smooth grassland and arable, with little net change.
3.3 Within the grassland group there was a considerable amount of interchange
between smooth, intermediate and rough grassland types, with an overall tendency
towards grassland improvement.
3.4 There was interchange between heather moorland and rough grassland resulting
in a net reduction in heather moorland. This may be associated with changes of
land management such as 'muirburn', (heather management by burning) or changes
in the intensity of hill grazing.
3.5 Conversion of blanket mire to young plantation occurred. This was the result
of increasing areas of upland Scotland being planted or drained in preparation
for the planting of commercial conifers over the study period.
3.6 The overriding change during the study period was the amount of rough
grassland, blanket mire and heather moorland which became afforested. The
overall extent of these features declined by 11%. Afforestation accounted for a
large part of this, and grassland improvement a secondary factor.
4.1 NCMS results have been produced on a regional basis where regions refer to
the pre-1996 Scottish administrative regions (as presented on the Ordnance
Survey Local Government Areas map of 1984).
4.2 Regions which are characterised by a high semi-natural land cover and a low
level of change include Shetland and the Western Isles and to a lesser extent
Highland.
4.3 Regions with moderately high semi-natural land cover but with higher levels
of change towards artificially created features include Borders, Central,
Dumfries & Galloway, Grampian, Strathclyde and Tayside regions. These areas
are characterised by increasing forestry and an intensification of lowland
agriculture typified by grassland improvement.
4.4 Regions which have low semi-natural cover and moderate levels of change
include the agricultural lowland regions of Fife, Orkney and Lothian.
5.1 Results indicate that the balance between semi-natural and created features of the Scottish countryside shifted towards a reduction of the former towards the latter. In the 1940s 71% of Scotland could be classified as 'semi-natural'. By the 1970s the semi-natural land area had decreased to 63%.
Mackey, E.C., Shewry, M.C. and Tudor, G.J. (1998). Land cover change: Scotland
from the 1940s to the 1980s. The Stationery Office, Edinburgh.
Tudor G.J., Shewry M.C., Mackey E.C., Elston D.A. & Underwood F.M. (1999). Land
Cover Change in Scotland: The Methodology of the National Countryside Monitoring
Scheme. Scottish Natural Heritage Research, Survey and Monitoring Report No 127.
TABLE 2: NET CHANGE FOR SCOTLAND (1940s-1970s)
Ordered by size of change
Figure 1: Interchanges greater than 0.5% of the area of Scotland (1940s-1970s)
Tudor, G.J., & Mackey, E.C. (1995). Upland land cover change in post-war
Scotland. In Heaths and Moorland: Cultural Landscapes, (Eds. D.B.A. Thompson,
A.J. Hester & M.B. Usher). HMSO, Edinburgh.
A more colourful view can be obtained from the SNH web site: www.snh.org.uk
(under environmental audit).
Dr Gavin Tudor
National Countryside Monitoring Scheme
Project Manager, 1986-1997
Mike Shewry
Environmental Statistician Environmental Audit Unit Chief Scientist's Unit
Ed Mackey
Head of Environmental Audit Unit
Chief Scientist's Unit
Scottish Natural Heritage
2 Anderson Place
EDINBURGH
EH6 5NP
Tel: 0131-447 4784
Fax: 0131-446 2405