Tardee and Six Mile Water 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

• lower slopes of basalt uplands which lead to summits of Carn Hill, Big Collin, Tardree Mountain and Douglas Top
• slopes predominantly in improved pasture
• some concentrations of rough and neglected grassland
• woodland sparse and confined mainly to the Doagh River and Connor Burn.

Woodlands

Woodlands occupy only 1% of the LCA; along the Connor Burn, narrow bands of hazel and ash are found on the steep sides of the incised streams. Small patches of open treed areas with beech and Scots pine along the Doagh River are remnants of plantings around former mills and associated large houses. Large demesnes are infrequent in these upland margins with only Drumnadarragh House, at the head of the Doagh River valley, being substantial; this eighteenth century demesne has mature beech and Scots pine in hedgerows, but few of the former parkland trees remain.

Grassland and Arable

Grasslands account for approximately 80% of the land cover, with a further 9% classed as arable (although some of this is grass reseeding). Of the grassland, the vast majority is in improved pastures, but throughout there is a tendency for them to revert readily to rushes, even at low altitudes as around Ross and Castlegore. Rough grassland is concentrated in three areas - around Ballynoe, between Moss-Side and Ballyvoy Bridge and between Backside and Dickeystown. Although small pockets of fen and marsh occur, most of these areas have been reclaimed to pasture in the past, but have been invaded by rushes. In some of these breeding waders have been recorded (curlew, lapwing and snipe). Hedges form the majority of field boundaries, but many are over-grown, gappy and with post-mature trees. Indeed, over large parts, especially around Ballynoe and Dunamuggy, hedgerows are formed of mature, but stunted, beech.

Peat Bogs

There is neither lowland raised bog nor blanket bog in this LCA; heath covers the peaty soils north of Dickeystown.

Wetlands

Several reservoirs occur in the LCA; of these Black Rock Reservoir and Straid Dam are moderately nutrient enriched and both contain small areas of fen. Many small streams flow through the LCA, most feeding the Six Mile Water. Both the Six Mile Water and the Doagh River have river water crowfoot. The rivers and streams flow through improved pastures and there are threats from agricultural practices.

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: woodland cover is sparse and of variable biodiversity value

Actions:

• enhance the biodiversity value of broadleaved woodlands by discouraging any further felling or pollarding; by retention of fallen and veteran trees (particularly for bryophytes, ferns, fungi and fauna); ensure that hazel scrub is not cleared
• encourage control of grazing to foster herb layer and regeneration and if necessary, encourage replanting of canopy species; removal of invasive species could increase the diversity of ground flora, especially where the canopy species are not beech
• further study of the history and biodiversity of broadleaved woods, particularly any ancient and long-established, as a key to future management
• enhance biodiversity through measures to improve and extend woodland cover such as The Woodland Grant Scheme or The Farm Woodland Premium Scheme;
• management plans for demesne woodland at Drumnadarragh House should be directed toward their survival, through natural regrowth or planting of native broadleaf species; farmers and landowners could be encouraged to plant field corners or set-aside fields

GRASSLAND AND ARABLE

Issue: extensive improved pastures and some arable of relatively low biodiversity value; hedgerows require management

Actions:

• encourage (through participation in Environmental Schemes) adoption/continuance of less intensive management of pastures to allow reversion to/continuance of more species-rich grassland
• manage grazing levels to ensure that important grassland areas are not encroached by scrub vegetation or experience a fall in species richness due to overgrazing
• maintain and enhance rough grassland by where, possible, restricting field or arterial drainage
• maintain and improve field boundaries, especially hedgerows where they occur through adoption of correct cutting cycles; hedge laying and replanting where necessary; leave saplings uncut to develop into hedgerow trees; avoidance of spraying with fertilisers, slurry, herbicides; provision of wildlife strips and conservation headlands around fields; and limitation of field amalgamation
• leave stubble over winter, rather than autumn ploughing to increase food resources for farmland birds; spring-sown cereals are beneficial to farmland birds
• ensure that further clearance of boulders does not occur on pastoral or arable land

HEATHS AND BOGS

Issue: potential loss of heath north of Dickeystown

Actions:

• promote membership of ESA 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
• discourage 'reclamation' to pasture fields around heathland margins
• discourage afforestation

WETLANDS AND LAKES

Issue: reservoirs, rivers and areas of NI Priority Habitat fens are under threat from agricultural practices

Actions:

• promote and encourage adoption of Countryside Management guidelines so that water is not polluted by releases from silage effluent, herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers or sheep dip; ensure that eutrophication does not occur as a result of nutrient-rich surface waters from surrounding farmland
• monitor the Six Mile Water and Doagh Rivers in relation to expansion of rural/urban housing and associated septic tanks/sewage treatment plants
• prevent loss of fens through drainage, reclamation, land-fill, new woodland planting and encroachment by scrub woodland; prevent dumping and fly-tipping and encourage removal of rubbish; care should be taken to divert the flow of nutrient rich water from agricultural land away from fens, so that sites do not become damaged by a change in species composition
• carefully assess any proposals for arterial and field drainage near to fens so that the water table is not lowered to the extent that fens are affected
• monitor effects of recreation, including fishing, on shoreline communities (reedbeds, fens etc.)

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