Drumochter Hills

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (2%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (23%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (46.5%)
  
• Alpine and sub-Alpine grassland (22%)
  
• Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (1%)
  
• Inland rocks, Screes, Sands, Permanent Snow and ice (5%)
  
• Other land (including Towns, Villages, Roads, Waste places, Mines, Industrial sites) (0.5%)
  

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

• 4030 European dry heaths

  The Drumochter Hills provides an example of European dry heaths in the central Scottish Highlands, and represents heaths developed in the cool and less oceanic climate of the central Highlands. The main types of heath represented are H12 Calluna vulgaris – Vaccinium myrtillus heath, the most extensive type, and H18 Vaccinium myrtillus – Deschampsia flexuosa heath. The site completes the east–west geographical range of sites in this part of the the Highlands. The Moine schist rocks are mildly base-rich and give rise to more fertile soils than the granite of the Cairngorms or the quartzite of Beinn a’Ghlo. Red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus numbers are high, and Drumochter is the best example of a high-altitude Highland grouse moor where the extensive Calluna-dominated heaths are managed by small-patch burning. The site has some of the best examples of late-lie Vaccinium – Deschampsia heaths at the upper limit of dry heath, with the rare blue heath Phyllodoce caerulea, which is confined to this site and nearby Ben Alder and Aonach Beag. Locally where there is flushing the Calluna heaths are herb-rich. Small areas of the western H21 Calluna vulgaris – Vaccinium myrtillus – Sphagnum capillifolium heath are also represented.

• 4060 Alpine and Boreal heaths

  Drumochter is representative of the heaths of the relatively continental hills of the central Scottish Highlands, with the full range of heath types to be expected in this part of Scotland and a wide range of high-altitude and snow-bed heaths. Alpine and Boreal heaths on this site are well-developed, although the individual heathland sub-types are less extensive than on the Cairngorms. There are extensive areas of H13 Calluna vulgaris – Cladonia arbuscula and H19 Vaccinium myrtillus – Cladonia arbuscula heaths, with a particularly fine development of wave-form prostrate Calluna – Cladonia heath. Lichens are especially abundant in these communities, with the lichen cover equalling, and even locally exceeding, the cover on the Cairngorms. These Alpine and Boreal heaths are the communities in Britain that are most comparable to the lichen heaths of Scandinavia. There are large areas of H20 Vaccinium myrtillus – Racomitrium lanuginosum heath and subalpine forms of H12 Calluna vulgaris – Vaccinium myrtillus heath, and H18 Vaccinium myrtillus – Deschampsia flexuosa heath with bog bilberry Vaccinium uliginosum are especially well-developed. Snow-bed H22 Vaccinium myrtillus – Rubus chamaemorus heaths are well-represented, with an abundance of the characteristic dwarf cornel Cornus suecica.

• 4080 Sub-Arctic Salix spp. scrub

  Drumochter Hills is representative of W20 Salix lapponum – Luzula sylvatica Sub-Arctic Salix spp. scrub on less calcareous schist in the east-central Highlands at moderately high altitude (750 m). Patches of scrub are widespread across the site and are thought to constitute the second-largest area of scattered scrub in the UK after Caenlochan. The habitat occurs in a variety of locations, including rock ledges, crags, by rocky burn-sides and, unusually, in wet scree on steep slopes. Exceptionally, in one place the scrub occurs with subalpine scrub of rowan Sorbus aucuparia and downy birch Betula pubescens. The most frequent and widespread willow species is downy willow Salix lapponum, while whortle-leaved willow S. myrsinites and mountain willow S. arbuscula occur locally.

• 6150 Siliceous alpine and boreal grasslands

  Drumochter has an extensive high plateau with the fourth-largest extent in the SAC series of Siliceous alpine and boreal grasslands, including the second-largest area of U8 Carex bigelowii – Polytrichum alpinum sedge-heath. Two other sub-types, U10 Carex bigelowii – Racomitrium lanuginosum moss-heath and U7 Nardus stricta – Carex bigelowii grass-heath, are extensive. The site is representative of the central Highlands where schistose rocks predominate, supporting local enrichment of the flora. This contrasts with the wholly acidic granite of the Cairngorms. The comparatively large extent of Carex – Polytrichum sedge-heath is characteristic of the high eastern and central hills. There are especially fine transitions to alpine dwarf-shrub heaths, and unusually the grassland borders extensive high-altitude blanket mire. Late-lie snow-beds of U11 Polytrichum sexangulare – Kiaeria starkei snow-bed and U12 Salix herbacea – Racomitrium heterostichum snow-bed communities are well-developed but are not extensive.

• 7130 Blanket bogs (* if active bog)  * Priority feature

  Drumochter has been selected for its extensive areas of blanket bog which lie not only midway between the oceanic blanket bogs of the west and the drier, more continental bogs of the eastern Grampians, but also midway along the north–south transition. The kinds of bogs represented and their surface patterns reflect this intermediate position. In the Pass of Drumochter there is the most easterly extensive occurrence of western M17 Scirpus cespitosus – Eriophorum vaginatum blanket mire with typical species such as deergrass Trichophorum cespitosum, purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea, cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix and bog asphodel Narthecium ossifragum. These low altitude bogs are generally rich in the bog-mosses Sphagnum capillifolium and S. papillosum. At higher altitudes M17 is replaced by M19 Calluna vulgaris – Eriophorum vaginatum blanket mire. The high altitude bogs show widespread hagging and extensive bare peat, a common phenomenon in the upland bogs in UK. Above about 800 m heather Calluna vulgaris is replaced by cowberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea and montane dwarf-shrubs, mainly bog bilberry Vaccinium uliginosum and crowberry Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

• 4010 Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix
• 6230 Species-rich Nardus grasslands, on silicious substrates in mountain areas (and submountain areas in Continental Europe)  * Priority feature
• 6430 Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels
• 8110 Siliceous scree of the montane to snow levels (Androsacetalia alpinae and Galeopsietalia ladani)
• 8220 Siliceous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

• Not Applicable

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

• Not Applicable