Mount Brandon Nature Reserve

The sides of Mount Brandon are covered in upland blanket bog which has built up over thousands of years. Upland blanket bogs develop in damp climates where soil becomes waterlogged and the remains of plants, which have died down each winter, are preserved and accumulate in waterlogged, acid conditions. 

Choughs feed on ants and other soil invertebrates in short grassland. Ravens often feed on dead sheep and have increased in numbers with overstocking. A variety of grasses, sedges and heathers grow here and these have been used for centuries as pasture for cattle and sheep. In recent years cattle numbers have declined while those of sheep have increased. It was acquired to conserve the mountain blanket bog/heath complex and its famed alpine flora. A herd of small cattle have been bred by crossing Kerry cattle with Scottish Highland cattle in the hope that they will break up many of the Purple Moor Grass clumps and allow heathers and other blanket bog plants to grow again when sheep numbers have been reduced.