The Trust have been mapping Calton Hill to show the balance between the historic centre of the hill with its buildings & monuments (surrounded by grasslands), and the outer slopes with their natural and semi-natural wildlife habitats (scrub, ‘under-scrub’ and woodland).
The Calton Hill grasslands are of different types. In the centre there are areas which have been sown (“improved”) mainly with ryegrass (Lolium perenne) surrounded by neutral and more fragmented acid grasslands, and one place with calcareous plants by the Nelson Monument.
Looking at biodiversity, we have mapped the hill in terms of ‘naturalness’ and species richness (or abundance of species present). The central area of ‘improved’ grassland is low, the inner surrounding area with more natural grass and scrub is medium, and the outer woodland area is high.
These maps are based on the 2024 ‘Vegetation Survey of Calton Hill, Edinburgh’ by Ben Averis.
