Killeter Uplands Biodiversity Profile
In the following account of this LCA it should be noted that for consistency, the biodiversity section follows a standard order for all LCAs even though some of the communities discussed later may have more importance for biodiversity than those discussed earlier.
Key Characteristics
- woodland accounts for almost a quarter of the land cover, which is about four times the figure for Northern Ireland as a whole (c. 5.6%); almost all is coniferous forest dominated by Sitka spruce with lodgepole pine/ broadleaf mixed
- woodland is scarce and limited to a few patches of birch and alder-willow wet woodland around the cut margins of bogs, and to mixed hardwoods around former farmhouses and shooting lodges
- improved pasture is limited to lowlands along the Mourne Beg River and the River Derg; elsewhere it occurs only as isolated patches above the tributaries with the patches often separated by acid grassland or cut-over bog
- large tracts of cut-over blanket peat, but also some large expanses of intact bog of national and international importance
- examples of rare types of upland and mesotrophic lakes
- rivers of importance for Priority Species and salmon
Woodlands
Woodland accounts for almost a quarter of the land cover, which is about four times the figure for Northern Ireland as a whole (c. 5.6%); almost all is coniferous forest dominated by Sitka spruce with lodgepole pine. Most of this forest has been planted on upland blanket peat, much of it cut-over at some time in the past, but some was planted over intact bog prior to the policy change of the early 1990s (which was towards a general presumption against planting intact blanket peat). Coniferous forest is generally of low biodiversity although red squirrel is recorded from Killeter and Carrickaholten Forests.
Broadleaved/mixed woodland is scarce and limited to a few patches of birch and alder-willow wet woodland around the cut margins of bogs, and to mixed hardwoods around former farmhouses and shooting lodges. Examples include the Altamullan FNR that consists of old woodland and scrub surrounding the site of a mid-nineteenth century farmhouse and sawmill, now demolished. Many of the planted tree species, beech, sycamore, lime, Scots pine and larch are now over-mature and dying, but native species, ash, oak, rowan, alder, willow, hazel and holly form areas of scrub.
Grassland and Arable
Improved pasture is limited in the LCA to lowlands along the Mourne Beg River and the R. Derg; elsewhere it occurs only as isolated patches above the tributaries with the patches often separated by acid grassland or cut-over bog. Improved pastures generally have low biodiversity as a result of relatively intensive management. Some of the pastures are sown grasslands dominated by ryegrass and few other species - low biodiversity is in-built. Other grasslands have been converted to improved pastures through management. High levels of grazing or repeated cutting for silage, high inputs of fertilizers and slurry, and selective herbicides serve to reduce diversity of both flora and fauna. Arable land is insignificant in this LCA.
Biodiversity in areas of improved pastures and arable is often concentrated in hedgerows, but in this LCA most fields are enclosed by stone walls, any hedgerows are generally poorly managed and gappy.
In this LCA, cut-over blanket bog descends to low altitudes; because of the past history of peat cutting there can be diversity of both habitats and species. Islands of deeper, drier peat left by cutting may be heather dominated; flushes or soakaways may have sweet gale, sharp flowered rush, tormentil and carnation sedge with the purple moor-grass; many other areas are completely dominated by soft rush and the deeper peat by purple moor grass or mat grass.
Despite the limited area of farmland, some of the bird Priority Species have been recorded - song thrush, skylark, linnet and reed bunting.
Heaths and Bogs
Blanket bog is confined in Europe to the northwest margins of the continent, so that Northern Ireland contains not only a large proportion of the UK's and of Ireland's total area of blanket bog, but also is of major importance at a European scale. Blanket bog, and particularly intact blanket bog, in any LCA is therefore of national and international significance. It is home to plant species adapted to the acidic, low nutrient conditions - including common heather, cross-leaved heath, cotton sedges, bog asphodel, deer sedge, bog mosses (Sphagnum species) and sundews. It is also important for over-wintering birds and for breeding birds, including waders. Blanket peat is also important as a store for carbon and as a repository of information on past environments.
Large tracts of the LCA are covered by cut-over blanket peat, but it also has some large expanses of intact bog, several of which are raised bog within the matrix of the general blanket bog. Essan Burn & Mullyfamore ASSI is a large area of blanket bog in the Essan Valley. The peat surface and the hydrology are still intact with the vegetation showing clear affinities to oceanic blanket bog. Structural features include several raised bog domes with hummock and lawn complexes and well developed pool systems of which Mullyfamore FNR is the best example. Relatively rare plant species include the oblong-leaved sundew and the hummock forming bog mosses Sphagnum imbricatum and S. fuscum. The bog also provides habitats for upland birds, with the Greenland white-fronted goose being of particular note. Killeter FNR and other smaller intact bogs nearby, are similarly raised bogs within the blanket peat and are noteworthy because of their marked pool complexes. Croagh Bog is similar, although at much lower altitude, as is Moneygal Bog ASSI (also Moneygal Bog SAC) - indeed it is often classed as lowland raised bog. However, the underlying ridge topography suggests that it is transitional to blanket bog. The site is a large one, with a well-developed dome and an old bog-burst. The hummock-forming species Sphagnum imbricatum and S. fuscum are common.
The summits and steeper slopes have eroded peat, generally of the form consisting of parallel gullies down the hillsides with rafts of peat between. Mechanical extraction has been concentrated in particular areas in the recent past, but generally in areas of former hand-cutting near to roads.
Breeding curlew and snipe are recorded from the blanket peat, as is red grouse.
Wetlands and Lakes
Four lakes located in this LCA have been classified as mesotrophic lakes, that is, characterised by having a middle level of nutrients between nutrient poor (oligotrophic) and nutrient rich (eutrophic). Mesotrophic lakes potentially have the highest macrophyte diversity of any lake type. Furthermore, relative to other lake types, they contain a higher proportion of nationally scarce and rare aquatic plants. This is an increasingly rare type of lake in Northern Ireland because the nutrient status of many is being increased through input of water from agricultural land that has had applications of fertilizers and slurry. LoughnaWeelagh is of the Isoetes-Lobelia type - that is, it is base poor with clear water, unenriched and contains both type species; it is rare in Northern Ireland. Loughaboy is of the Nymphaea/Fontinalis/Littorella type that is relatively base and nutrient poor and found at mid-altitudes. Lough Mulken and Lough Any, are of a low priority type.
Lough Bradan and Lough a Yelvin are good examples of upland Nymphaea-Nuphar lakes with a very low nutrient concentration but the most diverse macrophyte flora of upland lakes. Fens are of limited occurrence in the LCA and confined to some of the lake shores, for example Lough a Yelvin, Loughaboy and L. Mulken; the last, and L. Bradan also have reedbeds.
The R. Derg has river water crowfoot and otter and, as part of the Foyle system, is important for Atlantic salmon.
Key Issues
General actions for UK and NI Priority Habitats and Priority Species are detailed in the Habitat Action Plans and Species Action Plans.
WOODLANDS
Issue: low broadleaved woodland cover
Actions:
- encourage planting of native broadleaved woodlands, especially in lower lands, rather than the small conifer plantations which are of poor biodiversity and landscape value.
- support planting of broadleaves within and around forests to soften impact on the landscape and to increase biodiversity
GRASSLAND AND ARABLE
Issue: poor biodiversity of farmland
Actions:
- maintain and improve field boundaries - especially hedgerows where a traditional part of the landscape. This may be achieved through adoption of correct cutting cycles; hedge laying and replanting where necessary; leaving saplings uncut to develop into hedgerow trees; avoidance of spraying with fertilizers, slurry, herbicides; provision of wildlife strips and conservation headlands around fields; and limitation of field amalgamation.
- encourage maintenance of wet grasslands not only for plant species diversity, but also to retain and enhance mammal, insect and bird life.
HEATH AND BOGS
Issue: blanket bogs and raised bogs of national and international importance
Action:
- maintain the integrity of existing bogs by for example, preventing, fires, new drainage, further forestry, land-fill and fly-tipping and new peat cutting
WETLANDS
Issue: important mesotrophic and upland lakes and rivers with Priority Species and important to Atlantic salmon
Actions:
- protect water quality of lakes and rivers through nutrient management and by reducing suspended sediments, thus
- promote and encourage existing good farming practices so that streams are not polluted by run-off from agricultural land or seepage from silage pits
- monitor effects of forestry and peat cutting activities on the nutrient and pH status of rivers and lakes, and on the deposition of sediments
