Heathland habitat threatened

Good heather cover managed for conservation. According to recent estimates, around 90,000 hectares of the UK is covered in lowland heathland, with nearly nearly 60,000 in England Photograph: Natural England

Heathland damaged by recreational driving. Historically, heathland was maintained as open habitat through cutting trees for firewood, harvesting bracken, heather and gorse for animal bedding and fodder and grazing Photograph: Natural England

Heathland invaded by scrub. From the mid-19th century large cities expanded on to heathlands, including London, while other areas were planted with conifers or transformed into arable land when inorganic fertilisers were developed Photograph: Natural England

Heathland invaded by wavy-hair grass. The survey, for Natural England, Defra, the RSPB and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, was the first survey to analyse the condition of non-protected lowland heathland and looked at 104 areas of varying heathland across England. Lowland heathland is one of a number of habitats being prioritised under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) to reverse the decline of the country's biodiversity Photograph: Natural England

Heathland under extensive restoration. The UK BAP sets targets to maintain the extent of all heathland in existence and improve their management, as well as encourage the re-establishment of new sites Photograph: Natural England

The survey showed that many of the larger heathlands managed for conservation and recreation – such as Cornwall's East Lizard peninsula - are in better condition Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

The marsh gentian, Gentiana pneumonanthe
Many heathland species, like the marsh gentian, are endangered due to the reduction in the habitat available or the lack of appropriate management such as grazing Photograph: George McCarthy/Corbis

Inundated clubmoss, Lycopodiella inundata
This plant is also under threat as heathland disappears Photograph: Minden Pictures/Getty

A male stonechat, Saxicola torquata
Stonechats, small, robin-sized birds, live on heaths, conifer plantations or coastal sites, especially in southern and western counties. They need bare ground and short heather and grasses Photograph: Frank Blackburn/Ecoscene/Corbis

A stone curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus
Birds such as the stone curlew will come increasingly under threat if their heathland habitat continues to degrade Photograph: Eric and David Hosking/Corbis

A Dartford warbler, Sylvia undata
The Dartford warbler need gorse, but also short vegetation to survive Photograph: David Kjaer/Nature Picture Library/Rex Features

A nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus
The nightjar nests in open habitat but also uses a variety of vegetation Photograph: Harry Fiolet/Foto Natura/Getty

A male sand lizard, Lacerta agilis
This is another species affected by the lack of open ground or vegetation structure. For invertebrates, the lack of diversity of flowering plants restricts the presence of nectar feeding species for them to eat Photograph: George McCarthy/Corbis