Soil fertility as a parameter in land evaluation of moorland, Waldridge Fell, County Durham

Abstract

The aim of these investigations is to assess the importance of soil fertility as a parameter in land evaluation of moorland. Waldridge Fell of County Durham is chosen as a specific reference, and the thesis comprises three parts:- I. General background to the problem, II. The environment of Waldridge Fell and III. Investigations and implications. Part I indicates the contemporary land use in Britain and its relation to the potential of moorland. The present land capability classification of County Durham and Waldridge Fell is reviewed and the approaches to the assessment of biological production in land evaluation are discussed. There follows a resume of moorland soils, and the influence of grazing and afforestation on them. Part II outlines the environmental background of Waldridge Fell, including a detailed description of the study site. The vegetation pattern and the correlated edaphic and biotic variables of the area are analysed in detail. Part III consists of experimental work and its implications. Environmental monitoring, from Nov. I970 - June 1972 was undertaken to investigate the seasonal fluctuations of soil fertility and biological yields of Calluna as affected by the weather conditions. A further assessment of different soils from the research area was undertaken in the laboratory. This leads to conclusions relating to the factors regulating productivity of Calluna in the field. The last chapter integrates soil fertility and the biological productivity assessment in land evaluation. Further analyses were carried out to test the interrelationships between the nutrient contents both in the soils and Calluna tissues, the effects of climate and the productivity of Calluna. The possibility of using soil chemical nutrients as parameters in predicting yield is also discussed.