Scotstown Moor
Scotstown Moor Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is located four miles to the north of Aberdeen City Centre, near the residential areas of Dubford and Bridge of Don, at grid reference NJ 935116.
Other similar habitats such as Ferryhill Moss and Stocket Moor, lying closer to the city, have long since disappeared, being lost to housing.
Although the site's status gave the public free access, Scotstown Moor was the property of the Bishopric of Aberdeen and was farmed by the proprietor of Perwinnes.
Throughout the early part of this century Scotstown Moor suffered some habitat degradation, largely due to drainage operations.
However, since the council's "Environmental Improvement Scheme" involved the clearance of scrub and the afforestation of the moor, this option was hardly less destructive than full scale development.
This designation probably protected the site from various planned land-uses which would have proved highly damaging, including drainage, afforestation, housing, and conversion to a golf course.
This resulted not only in the loss of valuable habitat, but also created a new source of pollution close to the moor and almost certainly affected the site's drainage patterns.
In January 2013 Aberdeen city council announced that Scotstown moor would be converted into a long term "travellers" site.
[1] A comparison of vegetation surveys of Scotstown Moor, performed in 1968 and 1998, shows that the number of plant species in the area has declined.
This is partly due to planting of non-native conifers (Pinus contorta, Picea abies, Picea sitchensis and Larix decidua) and broadleaves (Acer platanoides), but others, such as Matricaria discoides and Veronica persica (annuals) and Reynoutria japonica (a more persistent and highly invasive species) appear to have colonized naturally.
Seepage of groundwater from the north and west, combined with flow from several springs, feeds the bog formed in a shallow basin at the south end of the reserve.
In the southern part of the site, the soils are freely drained iron podzols formed from fluvio-glacial sands and gravel.
The presence of the nutrient rich flushes makes the site unique in the area, providing the basis for a diverse plant community containing several species of interest.
Mainly restricted to the southern part of the site, gorse scrub occurs in patches of varying sizes bordered by both bog and grassland.
It is often the dominant vegetation on heaths, moors, open woods and neglected pastures, especially on acid light soils.
The ground flora in this area of the reserve is sparse due to the dense tree canopy, but understory species include the nettle (Urtica diocia), bramble (Rubus fruticosus) and broad buckler fern (Dryopteris dilatata) - plants which often characterise pine plantations on areas cleared of alder (Alnus glutinosa) which is still found on site.
Some of the more unusual bog plants include bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), grass of parnassus (Parnassia palustris), northern marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza purpurella), lesser butterfly orchid (Platanthera bifolia), common butterwort (Pinquicula vulgaris), round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) and black-bog rush (Schoenus nigricans).
P. vulgaris and D. rotundifolia are insectivorous, supplementing the poor supply of minerals in boggy areas by digesting insects.
Heath bedstraw (Galium saxatile) and soft rush (Juncus effusus) are also common but species diversity is unexpectedly low in the grasslands.
Several species of moths, butterflies, and freshwater invertebrates are also found on the site (listed in "Scotstown Moor - a children's guide") and the two small ponds provide a habitat for frogs as well as ducks and other wildfowl.
