Lough Cowey ASSI

Lough Cowey is a low-altitude inter-drumlin lake sited within an arable and pastoral farming landscape.  It is a special place because the aquatic plant community is characteristic of a lake with naturally high nutrients levels.

The landward margin of the lough is typically bounded by an inner reed bed comprised of Common Reed and an outer swamp zone of Lesser Reedmace interspersed with a few isolated stands of Common Club-rush. Beyond the swamp there is a near vertical drop off in water depth where Yellow Water-lily forms a wide and almost continuous floating stand, growing in depths of up to 4 metres. A number of characteristic submerged and floating species for this lake type also occur such as Perfoliate Pondweed, Curled Pondweed, Rough Stonewort, Smooth stonewort, Ivy-leaved Duckweed, Amphibious Bistort and Greater Bladderwort.

To the north west and south east of the lough where the inner shore is shallow and the substrate more stony Shoreweed is found with Water Horsetail and Common Spike-rush. Water Mint, Bogbean, Water Forget-me-not, Purple Loosestrife and Lesser Spearwort also occur along the shoreline.

Of particular note is the extensive reed bed to the south of the lough which provides cover, foraging and nesting habitat for both wetland birds such as Mute Swan, Moorhen and the reclusive Water Rail. Small passerines include Sedge Warbler and more notably Reed Warbler.  Evidence of the presence of the European Otter is also found.

All of the plant communities that make Lough Cowey such a special place depend on the ASSI being kept in good condition. We therefore need to protect it from certain activities, which have been identified as potentially damaging to the site.

Site related documents

Site map (.PDF 2.5Mb), Citation document (.PDF 242Kb)