Eastern Binevenagh Slopes 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 just under5% of the land cover, almost equally divided between broadleaved/mixed woodland and coniferous forest
• broadleaved woodland restricted to stream-sides - e.g. Errigal Glen - and to wet or former cut-over bogs
• grassland covers around 77% of the LCA of which three-quarters is improved pasture
• areas of less-improved or unimproved damp grasslands, some species rich and traditionally managed, and poorly reclaimed, cut-over peat grasslands are common on the frequent, flatter parts of the LCA
• thin, cut-over blanket peat on the western margin of the LCA
• most lowland raised bog cut-over; more recent mechanised cutting has largely destroyed formerly significant raised bogs in the Agivey valley
• important salmonid rivers

Woodlands

Woodlands account for just under 5% of the land cover, almost equally divided between broadleaved/mixed woodland and coniferous forest. 'The Rock', part of Gortnamoyagh Forest, is almost entirely Sitka spruce - as is Ballycaghan, part of Aghadowey Forest. Planting around Ballinrees Reservoir is more complex with compartments of Norway spruce, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and hybrid larch. There are also stands of sycamore and Scots pine and others where these species are mixed with beech. Garvagh Forest is also a complex of many compartments; Sitka spruce is dominant, comprising about a third of the area and Norway spruce accounts for about a fifth. Other conifers include European larch and Douglas fir. There are also many compartments dominated by broadleaves, particularly oak or mixed broadleaves (ash, beech, oak), or mixed broadleaves and conifers. Downhill Forest is more unusual in that much of it is for amenity; whereas the western part is conifers (Sitka spruce, Scots pine, Norway spruce), the south-eastern section is an intimate mix of broadleaves (including beech, oak, sycamore and ash) and conifers (Norway spruce, western red cedar and western hemlock). Parts of this south-eastern section have a rich ground flora.

There are occasional conifer plantations outside of the State Forests, as near Ballywildrick, usually of Sitka spruce.

Broadleaved woodlands include those along Errigal Glen, southwest of Garvagh; here beech plantations blend into riverside woodland that includes ash and larch with alder and willow in damp areas. The small cow-wheat has been recorded in the glen. Hazel woodland is found near the 'mound' at Ballyhacket Magilligan and around the quarried slopes at Croaghan. On the adjacent thin, cut-over peatland there is willow carr and gorse scrub. More extensive and dense alder-willow carr (wet woodland) with a diverse ground flora is located at Knocknogher.

Grassland and Arable

Grassland covers around 77% of the LCA of which three-quarters is improved pasture. However, the extent of improvement varies with fields grading into. The improved pastures have generally low biodiversity as a result of relatively intensive management. Some are sown grasslands dominated by ryegrass and few other species - low biodiversity is in-built. However, in this LCA, many fields have been converted to improved pastures through management. High levels of grazing or repeated cutting for silage, high inputs of fertilizers and slurry, and in some cases use of selective herbicides, serve to reduce diversity of both flora and fauna.

Arable land, which includes land under grass re-seeding, is scattered through the LCA and amounts to only 4% of the land cover; it is most frequent between Macosquin and Aghadowey where well-drained brown earth soils dominate.

Biodiversity in areas of improved pastures and arable is often concentrated in hedgerows - indeed, they may be the most significant wildlife habitat over much of lowland Northern Ireland. Hedgerows are a refuge for many woodland and farmland plants and animals. In this LCA, in areas of good farmland, hedgerows are generally well maintained and dense, but on poorer land, for example in damp grasslands, they tend to be overgrown and gappy although often with mature trees. The generally small field size and associated density of hedges, together with the mix of less-improved and damp grasslands, may explain the relative richness of bird life in this LCA - despite the dominance of improved pastures. Priority species recorded for this LCA in areas where farmland is dominant include reed bunting, song thrush, spotted flycatcher, tree sparrow, bullfinch, linnet and barn owl. Where peaty soils dominate, hedges are often absent and replaced by post and wire with occasional whins; stone walls are also found in some of these peaty areas where bedrock is near the surface, as around Letterloan.

Areas of damp grassland, traditionally managed for hay or summer grazing (Lowland meadows), may be quite rich in plant species although some are dominated by rushes. They are also important for breeding birds, especially waders - including snipe and curlew. These meadows are relatively rare in the UK; Northern Ireland has a significant proportion of this resource.

Heaths and Bogs

The western margin of the LCA is drawn along the lower slopes of the basalt plateau that culminates in Binevenagh in the north. Beyond the border of the LCA, many of these slopes have been afforested - on deep blanket bog. As the slopes fall away eastward into the LCA, so the peat becomes progressively thinner, more patchy and has been cut-over. It also merges with peat bogs on flat surfaces at lower altitude so that the distinction between blanket and lowland bog is difficult to sustain. This is illustrated by the string of bogs in the Agivey valley upstream of Garvagh that grade westward into cut-over blanket bog. Brockagh Bog is considerably damaged with vegetation even in the 'intact' centre reduced to common heather, cross-leaved heath and deer sedge. The bog surface has been damaged by a grid of drains that has been cut into the bog. Marginal peat cutting has extended around most of the bog. There are a few birch trees on the cutaway, but it is mostly grazed and some land has been reclaimed. Glenullin Bog is severely degraded; this probable lowland raised bog has no surface structure due to complete removal of the acrotelm (upper living layer of the bog) prior to 1985. Much of the surface peat is dessicated and peat shrinkage has resulted in surface cracking. The surface of the bog now supports only a remnant of its original vegetation with common heather and scattered cross-leaved heath and cotton sedge growing over bare peat. Dunnavenny Bridge Bog is quite large, but the peat is shallow with patches of heather, rushes and evidence of attempts at reclamation. This dominance of cut-over lowland bog, often being colonized by trees and scrub (principally birch and gorse, but also willow and alder on wetter margins) continues northward. Around Glenkeen the patches of bog are all cut-over, the edges treed and the bog surface colonised by trees; at Glencurb there is in addition the Ballycaghan Forest; between Letterloan and Macosquin the small patches of cut-over bog have gorse and colonizing trees and one patch has been used as a tip.

Around 'The Isles' there is evidence of many attempts at reclamation, some recent. All remaining bog is cut-over and thin; gorse is common and there is some heather. However, most of the peat is in sedges, including cotton sedge, rushes and bog myrtle.

There are no significant areas of heathland in the LCA other than the small patches of wet heath (upland heathland) on the edges of thin blanket bog on the western margin of the LCA (e.g. lower slopes of Sconce Hill), and the small patches of gorse (whin) that occur throughout the LCA, but particularly on thin, cut-over peat.

Wetlands and Lakes

The lake in Downhill Forest is eutrophic (eutrophic standing waters); eutrophic lakes are highly productive because plant nutrients are plentiful either naturally or as a result of artificial enrichment. They can have a high biodiversity; planktonic algae and zooplankton are abundant, submerged vegetation is diverse and there are numerous species of invertebrates and fish. Dunalis Reservoir is an example of a mesotrophic lake 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. Ballinrees Reservoir has not been classified and Glenkeen Bridge Quarry has been classified as of no priority for biological interest.

The river water-crowfoot is found in the Articlave, Macosquin, Aghadowey and Agivey Rivers. Several of the rivers and tributaries are salmonid.

Coastal

To the east of Downhill, the coastal land is of significant nature conservation value. Maritime cliff and slope communities are followed inland by heathy unimproved maritime grassland and extensive, bracken-invaded acidic grassland. The cliffs are of importance for breeding seabirds, including shag, black guillemot and a colony of kittiwakes.

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 broadleaf semi-natural woodland cover of variable biodiversity value

Actions:

• encourage control of grazing in broadleaved woodlands along streams to foster regeneration and if necessary, encourage replanting of canopy species
• encourage new woodland planting, especially of native broadleaves, through appropriate grant schemes
• ensure conservation of wet woodlands - that they are not lost through drainage, reclamation, landfill or dumping/tipping
• discourage further planting of conifers on cut-over bogs.

GRASSLAND AND ARABLE

Issue: poor biodiversity of farmland

Actions:

• maintain and improve field boundaries especially hedgerows . 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 (through participation in Environmental Schemes) adoption of less intensive management of pastures to allow reversion to more species-rich grassland and protect unsown areas of species-rich grassland - in particular areas of wet grassland
• maintain and enhance wet grassland by restricting field or arterial drainage
• leave stubble over winter, rather than autumn ploughing, to increase food resources for farmland birds; spring sown cereals are also beneficial to breeding farmland birds

HEATH AND BOGS

Issue: loss of upland heathland and decline in its biodiversity

Actions:

• promote membership of ESA, Moorland Scheme or other Environmental Schemes through consultation with farmers and thereby
• control grazing intensity on existing heathland to encourage development of heathland and of heather of different ages
• control gazing intensity on some upland grassland to promote return to heathland
• discourage 'reclamation' to pasture fields around the heathland margins
• discourage afforestation

Issue: retention of remaining raised bogs/blanket bogs

Actions:

• although all lowland raised bogs have been cut-over in the past or have been greatly affected by modern machine cutting, further damage from infilling, fly-tipping, fires, new drainage and new peat cutting should be prevented
• consider restoration of raised bog habitats, particularly in the Agivey Valley, through appropriate water level management and phasing out peat cutting
• prevent new forest planting on raised/blanket bog

WETLANDS

Issue: examples of mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes and rivers of importance for salmonid fish and river water-crowfoot.

Actions:

• Protect water quality of lakes and 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
• continue monitoring of streams below industrial plants
• monitor streams in relation to expansion of rural housing and associated septic tanks/sewage treatment plants
• ensure that sediments are not released from further peat cutting and quarrying.

COASTAL

Issue: important coastal communities (of both flora and fauna)

Action:

• prevent disturbance of flora and fauna, particularly from recreational activity

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