Lowland Dry Acid Grasslands
Lowland dry acid grassland typically occurs on nutrient-poor, generally free-draining soils which occur over acid rocks (lime-poor), or on soils formed from shallow deposits such as sands and gravels.
Species richness is generally high with a wide range of grasses, herbs, dwarf shrubs, lichens and mosses.
The most characteristic herb and grass species are heath bedstraw, sheep’s sorrel, sheep’s fescue, common bent, pill sedge and tormentil.
Dwarf shrubs, such as heather and bilberry can also be present, but are not a dominant component of the sward. Brightly coloured and unusual fungi are commonly found in acid grasslands, such as wax-caps
, fairy-clubs and earth-tongues.
There are no large areas of lowland dry acid grassland (PDF 94.94 Kb) in Northern Ireland.
The habitat occurs in small areas and is scattered in distribution. It generally occurs on rocky knolls as a minor component of larger habitat areas such as lowland heathland, lowland meadow and pasture and maritime cliff and slope.
Places to visit
Both Glenarm Nature Reserve and Slievenacloy, which are managed by the Ulster Wildlife Trust, contain small areas of lowland dry acid grassland. The Slievenacloy site also falls within the ASSI
Small areas also occur on several properties owned by the National Trust.