Garry Bog Biodiversity Profile
In the following account of this LCA it should be noted that for consistency, the biodiversity section follows the 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
- woodlands account for 15% of the LCA. This is about three times the average for Northern Ireland, but this is explained by the small size of the LCA which encompasses a very local landscape.
- almost all the woodland is coniferous and most of that is in State Forest.
- grassland covers about 48% of the LCA, much lower than the Northern Ireland average. Almost all of this has been classified as improved pasture.
Woodlands
Woodlands account for 15% of the LCA. This is about three times the average for Northern Ireland, but this is explained by the small size of the LCA which encompasses a very local landscape. Almost all the woodland is coniferous and most of that is in State Forest. The dominant species are Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine although there is some Norway spruce. Alder and poplars have been planted around some edges of the forest, particularly along the Burn Gushet River. This coniferous forest is of low biodiversity - much lower than the peatland vegetation it has replaced.
There is some carr woodland (wet woodland) of alder and willows; generally these have colonized former cut-over peat.
Grassland and Arable
Grassland covers about 48% of the LCA, much lower than the Northern Ireland average. almost all of this has been classified as improved pasture, but the degree of 'improvement' varies because some is on reclaimed peat bog and is in different stages of reversion to rushes. There are also damp grasslands adjacent to the River Bush in the north. As many of the fields have been reclaimed from peat, the boundaries are generally of dykes and/or post and wire, so that there are few hedgerows to enhance the biodiversity.
Arable land, which includes grass reseeding, accounts for 11% of the land cover; note however that the area (c2 km2) is small. It is located mainly along the R. Bush on the northern boundary and on the western side of the B62 road; these are the parts of the LCA with non-peat soils.
Heaths and Bogs
Garry Bog (Garry Bog ASSI - also NNR, Ramsar and SAC) is a lowland raised bog that exhibits the full range of vegetation and structural features associated with this type of habitat. It is surrounded by cut-over bog, with some active cutting, and some poor fen and carr.
This site has one of the largest tracts of intact lowland bog in Northern Ireland, the surface of which features a pool and hummock complex with an extensive Sphagnum-rich bryophyte carpet. Occasional hummocks of S. imbricatum and S. fuscum occur. The pools support a characteristic growth of aquatic Sphagnum mosses with frequent stands of bogbean in deeper pools. The margins of pools support extensive growth of the nationally rare Sphagnum pulchrum. Around the hummocks and hollows, water-logged lawns of S. papillosum also have typical species, including bog asphodel, white beaked sedge, common cotton sedge and cross-leaved heath. On slightly drier sites deer sedge and common heather are abundant.
Most of the rand (steeply sloping margin of a raised bog) and of the lagg (the surrounds of a raised bog with more mobile water and greater nutrient availability) have been lost to peat cutting. This has left a mosaic of water-logged cuttings at different levels, separated by elevated ramparts. The water-logged cuttings are dominated by cross-leaved heath, with deer sedge and common cotton sedge over a dense carpet of bog mosses. The ramparts are much drier and dominated by rank common heather. Sections of lagg remain, typically dominated by purple moor grass.
Garry Bog is of national importance for biodiversity because of its size, its intact surface with microtopographical features, its typical plant communities and for its rare plant species. It is also a recorded site for the marsh fritillary butterfly. In addition it is a well-researched site at which the development of a lowland raised bog can be demonstrated. Shards of volcanic glass (tephra) in the peat profile have been dated; this adds to knowledge of the history of bog development.
Wetlands and Lakes
There are no significant wetlands in the LCA - only a few small pockets of poor fen. The R. Bush has river water-crowfoot, and river jelly lichen and is also an important salmonid river. The otter had been recorded at the confluence of the R. Bush and Burn Gushet.
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
There are no major issues concerning woodland in the LCA.
GRASSLAND AND ARABLE
Issue: poor biodiversity of farmland
Action:
- maintain and improve field boundaries especially hedgerows - where these occur. 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.
HEATH AND BOGS
Issue: preservation of a nationally important lowland raised bog complex
Actions:
- establish an integrated monitoring system for the bog to establish trends in vegetation, microtopography, water table and human impacts
- maintain the integrity of existing lowland raised bogs by for example, preventing infilling, fly-tipping, fires, new drainage (including field and arterial drainage in the surroundings) and attempt to limit new peat cutting
- consider restoration of raised bog habitats through appropriate water level management, removal of colonizing trees and phasing out peat cutting
- prevent new forest planting on raised bog
- monitor effects of recreational activities (including clay shooting)
WETLANDS
Issue: important rivers for rare plant and animal species as well as for salmonid fish.
Actions:
- protect water quality of rivers through nutrient management , 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
