The invertebrate communities of peat and upland grasslands in the North of England and some conservation implications

From a study of the invertebrates of 42 sites on peat or on upland grasslands in Northern England, we have recognised seven invertebrate communities. The typical habitats of each community were: lowland oligotrophic mire, high altitude blanket bog, lower altitude blanket bog, ‘mixed’-moor, dry northern heath, ‘edge’-peat and upland grasslands. There is the possibility of further upland grassland communities being identified in a more extensive survey of such areas. Most sites conformed to the classification but a small number of exceptions were found and it would be unwise to predict the invertebrate community directly from the habitat. Seasonal variation in the abundance of surface-active invertebrates was measured for each invertebrate community and marked differences in the timing of the peaks were found. Differences were also found in the total biomass of invertebrates in each community. The role of these differences in creating faunistic diversity on uplands and alternative sources of food for vertebrate predators has been considered.