Lullington Heath is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

. It is a national nature reserve and a

Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of E ...

site, Grade I. This site has two nationally uncommon habitats,

chalk heath Chalk heath is a rare habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, formed of a paradoxical mixture of shallow-rooted calcifuge ("calcium-hating") and deeper-rooted calcicole ("calcium-loving") plants, growing on a thin laye ...

and

chalk grassland Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover. ...

. Chalk heath formerly covered most of the site but scrub took over much of it after

myxomatosis Myxomatosis is a disease caused by '' Myxoma virus'', a poxvirus in the genus '' Leporipoxvirus''. The natural hosts are tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis'') in South and Central America, and brush rabbits (''Sylvilagus bachmani'') in North ...

almost wiped out the rabbit population in the 1950s. The grassland is rich in flowering plants and the scrub and rough grassland provide valuable habitats for invertebrates and birds.

References

{{SSSIs East Sussex Sites of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex National nature reserves in England Nature Conservation Review sites