Restoring Upland Heath. Upland heathland is an internationally important habitat, but a large area in the UK has been degraded to acid grassland by intensive livestock grazing. Long-term (eiht years) plot-scale experiments carried out by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, ADAS and The James Hutton Institute on Matgrass Nardus stricta – dominated grassland have been assessing various methods to re-establish dwarf shrubs, particulalry Heather Calluna vulgaris, on such sites.