Machair (pronounced mak-eh) is a Gaelic word meaning "fertile plain", but the word is now also used in scientific literature to describe the dune grassland unique to Western Scotland and North-West Ireland. The Machair here at Northton looks like a series of tiny islands, separated from one another by the incoming tide and sometimes playing host to the ubiquitous Harris sheep!
The origins of the Machair are thought to be releated to the end of the last Ice Age. Meltwater from the glaciers which sculpted the landscape of Harris and Lewis swept vast amounts of sand and gravel into the sea. The oceans were lower and so the debris was spread over much of what is now the continental shelf. As the sea level rose the glacial sediment – mixed with the crushed shells of masses of molluscs and other marine creatures – were driven ashore by wind and wave action to form characteristic white beaches and coastal sand dunes. The prevailing southwest winds continued to wear away and rebuild the dunes, blowing the light shelly sand over grasslands, marshes and lochs, even reaching the peatland and rocks further inland. Where the sand built up over grass land, Machair formed. Over the years, the winds and tides have continued to sculpt the landscape. At Northton and several other places on Harris, the Machair immediately next to the sea has been eroded to create the island effect you see today.
Machair sites have received considerable ecological and conservational attention, chiefly because of their unique ecosystems - they are one of the rarest habitat types in Europe. Although small, each section of the Machair is bursting with life with up to 40 different plant species per square metre. Thanks to the plants, there are aslo many species of insect. The rare Great Yellow Bumble Bee and the unusual Belted Beauty Moth with its flightless female form are two of the most characteristic machair insects found in the Outer Hebrides. The Machair are bustling with Western Isles bird life at all times year. Corncrakes and breeding waders are the most distinctive spring arrivals. Large flocks of geese, lapwing and golden plover make this their home in winter.
http://www.snh.gov.uk/about-scotlands-nature/habitats-and-ecosystems/coasts-and-seas/coastal-habitats/machair/
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