What makes UK landscapes distinctive, how human activity affects them, and managing them

• Upland landscapes located in the north and west of England, Wales and Scotland. This is because they were carved by glaciers in the last ice age, and are located north of the extent of the ice. Here are the majority of the UK’s igneous and metamorphic rocks, like granite in the Scottish highlands. Example: the Lake District

• Lowland landscapes located in the south and east of England. Sedimentary rocks like clays and sands are usually found here. These landscapes are much younger than the uplands and are eroded easier. Example: Somerset Levels

• Geology: headlands and bays Dorset, vertical chalk cliffs Dover, dramatic valleys and corries due to resistant rock carved by glaciers in Lake District

• History of settlement and farming affecting land use. Forests may be chopped down or non-native plants and species introduced. Land often cleared or flattened for houses.

• Natural processes in the past (glacial erosion) and present (river erosion)

• Type of vegetation

Sites attracting large numbers of people, likely to exceed carrying capacity, because they are:

• exceptionally attractive, interesting, beautiful

• easily accessible by road and within reach of people living in larger towns or cities

The number of people that a landscape can support before lasting damage is done to it.

The development of new businesses in the countryside, often in leisure or tourism rather than agriculture.

• Resistant igneous rock (North Wales, Scotland, Lake District) carved by glaciers into dramatic U shaped valleys and corries

• Erodible boulder clay (East England) deposited by glaciers put coasts at risk

• Resistant sedimentary chalk (Dover) creates dramatic vertical cliffs

• Discordant coastlines (Dorset) form headlands and bays

• Altitudes above 300m have wetter and cooler climate, resulting in upland heathlands characterised by boggy soil and heather.

• Consumers spend money in the area which can provide money for conservation and improvement of the environment

• Tourism creates many jobs and is an important source of income to the local economy across the whole of Purbeck, with tourists supporting around 25% of employment in Purbeck.

• A lot of people with different interests, and different reasons for visiting the Bay, can mingle, and those with similar interests can create their own community

Up to 1.5 million per year, with the months of July and August the busiest.

• It is home to rare seagrass meadows which are a breeding ground for unique animals like seahorses. There is a heathland ecosystem with unique flora and fauna particularly reptiles and birds. There is a sand dune system bound together by marram grass. Its environment is extremely unique in the UK, attracting nature enthusiasts

• Its land use/facilities: there is a naturist (nude) area, of which there are not many in the UK. There are different recreational activities, stables providing beach rides, water sports, cafes and restaurants.

• It is rich culturally and socially. It attracts families for weekend/day trips as it is very family-friendly. It attracts people with similar interests who can mingle. There is

• Famous geology: Old Harry and his wife (a stack and stump, respectively). Popular attraction. Bay is sheltered. Jurassic coastline means there are fossils in the bay’s wider area.

Up to 4.5 tonnes

• It is hard to manage the land use to cater to different needs and purposes. This can result to disagreements and conflict among visitors.

• An issue caused by visitors is the risk of fire when they have barbeques on the beach, as the long roots of the Marram grass can conduct the heat under the sand and start fires far away from the site of the barbeque and damage the unique dune ecosystem.

• Studland bay has managed this by sectioning off different parts of land called ‘zones’ for different uses

• There are zones for the naturist area, different activities, and barbecues

• They zone horse riding by time. It’s banned on the beach completely through July/August and only after 7pm in May and June.

• This means that the stable owners have a limit to how many customers they can serve during peak times and miss out on important revenue.

• Litter: 4.5 tonnes on busy weekend. National Trust must pay to collect and sort this rubbish and it is their greatest cost of running the site.

• It disrupts and damages the bay’s precious ecosystems by polluting habitats. Looks unattractive to visitors.

• Excessive footfall damages dunes and marram grass roots.

• There are 1720 total parking spots with 500 additional overflow spaces. Most people take the car because the nearest train station is an hour away. This may result in congestion. If parking gets full, cars may park illegally in dangerous places.

• Created boardwalks on the beach. This protects the dunes against erosion by reducing the amount of direct footfall on the beach.

• It also helps with accessibility and prevents blowouts (when wind gets into a hollow and blows the sand out)

• They have also roped off some areas to prevent people from walking over them and allow these areas to recover from damage or simply be protected from erosion.