Heathland research - Ed Tripp

My name's Ed Tripp and I'm an OPAL scientist at the University of Nottingham. I am researching the current state of heathland in the UK, and exploring the best ways to conserve this precious habitat. Read all about my research here, watch videos of my work and follow my progress in my blog.

Ed Tripp's research blog

The decline of heathland
Heathland habitats once extended over several million hectares in western Europe, but now they amount to less than 350,000 hectares. Not only is the total area of heathland in decline, but its becoming increasingly fragmented due to afforestation, conversion to agriculture, and urban development.

The damaging effects of pollution
Heathland communities are also being damaged by atmospheric pollution. The main cause of this is nitrogen from cars, industry and agriculture.

Pollution is reducing the ability of native heathland plants to grow better than invasive species. It may also lead to further invasion by non-heathland species.

What I want to find out
I want to identify the local and regional factors that determine heathland vegetation composition and how our heathland is likely to change in the future. Is pollution having a major impact? How are invasive species affecting heathland communities? What effect is climate change having?

Things I will investigate

The diversity of plants, lichens and mosses in a range of heathland. I will determine the extent to which this is affected by heathland size, nitrogen pollution, geographical location and local environmental characteristics
The extent to which the fertility of heathland soils has been modified by nitrogen pollution
The recovery of heathland lichen communities
The effects of climate change. By using heather seed stock gathered from different climatic regions, I can determine whether a species has adapted to local climate, and whether seed stock from warmer regions might be used in the future to sustain heathlands in a warmer climate