This information feeds into our wider research about heather beetle, and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has taken the time to respond, either by survey form or by phone. Working closely with the Moorland Association, we were interested in the additional information provided by the expanded survey return form, which sought another level of detail on some outbreaks in Northern England.
The expanded survey form looked at several aspects of heather beetle damage, but there was a particular focus on re-wetting and signs that beetle outbreaks might worsened by wetter moors. It was very interesting to explore this theme with some active case studies, and intriguing to find that there was no obvious link between wetter ground and the distribution of beetle damage. Some of the worst outbreaks took place on dry ground this year, and it is hard to correlate indications of wetness with severity of damage. Of course wet conditions may have a direct impact on the rate and quality of heather regeneration in the aftermath of an outbreak, and we are keen to monitor this in the coming months.
In the meantime, if you have found signs of heather beetle damage on your ground this year, please let the Heather Trust know by downloading the Survey Form - we cannot carry out this work without your help, so all survey forms are extremely important to us!
