Heath Lake is located in the county of Berkshire (Figure 1) and was designated as a
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1989 for its “specialist communities of
native plants and animals...[and] populations of some uncommon and rare aquatic
plant species” (Natural England, 2016). Described as a lowland acid lake with nutrient
poor waters, it has historically been habitat to both aquatic and marginal plant
communities which are more characteristic of upland lakes in Wales, northern England
and Scotland
