Land cover change in Scotland
| Rough Grassland | Intermediate Grassland | Smooth Grassland | Blanket Mire | Lowland Mire | Heather Moorland | Lochs | Canals | Reservoirs | Ditches | Rivers | Marginal Inundation | Streams | Wet Ground | Built Land | Quarry | Recreational Land | Rock/Cliff | Transport Corridor | Bare Ground | Tracks | Bracken | Low Scrub | Tall Scrub | Arable | Broadleaved Woodland | Coniferous Woodland | Mixed Woodland | Young Plantation | Broadleaved Plantation | Coniferous Plantation | Parkland | Felled Woodland | Hedgerows | Line of Trees |
Results - Feature - Grassland
Smooth Grassland
Heavily modified by the application of fertilisers and/or herbicides, and may have been re-seeded. (but not temporary grassland ley within an arable rotation). While grassland improvement took place, smooth grassland decreased by 11 percent, mainly due to conversion either to arable use or urban development.
- 1940s baseline - 10% of the area of Scotland
- 1940s-1980s change - 11% reduction in area
- Dynamics of change - biggest reductions from conversion to arable; biggest gains from rough and intermediate grassland
- 1980s outcome - 9% of the area of Scotland