Calcareous Grassland

This Calcareous grassland (PDF 195.25 Kb) is a botanical oasis, consisting of diverse, species rich grasslands which occur on lime-rich soil, most often derived from Carboniferous chalk or limestone (calcareous).
These calcareous grassland habitats were originally created when woodland was cleared. They rely on grazing or cutting to prevent scrub and rank grasses re-colonising.
The thin alkaline soils are rich in calcium carbonate but poor in other plant nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates.

Water tends to drain away quickly through the porous bedrock leaving soils generally dry. The habitat often makes up a larger parcel of land, merging into wet heath, bog and acid grassland.

Wildlife

Characteristic lime loving plants are quite diverse with wild thyme, crested hair grass, lady’s bedstraw, mouse-ear hawkweed, fairy flax, glaucous sedge, lady’s mantle and yarrow.
Patches along coastal areas will contain harebell and kidney vetch.
Shaking in the wind on slender stalks is the dainty, purple seeded, quaking grass.

Another brightly coloured flower found is bird’s-foot trefoil – so called because the seed pod resembles a bird’s foot. This is the food plant of the common blue butterfly, so worth looking out for.

Distribution

Distribution is limited to the limestone uplands of County Fermanagh above 150 meters in altitude. It is also found in Counties Antrim and Londonderry where it develops on shallow soils over basalt and chalk rocks. The areas of grassland are much dispersed and often associated with woodland and cliffs.

Areas to visit

You can see examples of this priority habitat at the stunningly beautiful coastal sites Murlough Bay, part of Murlough National Nature Reserve , White Park Bay, within North Antrim Coast Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and the National Nature Reserve at Crossmurin/Killykeeghan in the Marlbank area of Fermanagh.