River Main Valley Biodiversity Profile

In the following account 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

• very little woodland in the LCA, just over 1%, much lower than NI average (c.5.6%)
• largest areas of broadleaved woodland found around Galgorm Castle
• other areas exist as wet woodland and scrub around bogs
• grassland forms about 74% of the land cover, slightly higher than the Northern Ireland average (71%)
• almost all of the grassland is improved pasture (68%), although there are some damp grasslands along the floodplain of the River Main and Kells Water
• areas of lowland raised bog are found mostly to the East of the River Main but in general they have largely been destroyed due to commercial peat extraction
• there are no extensive areas of open water. The River Main, Braid River and Kells Water are all crowfoot rivers

Woodlands

There is little woodland in this LCA, just over 1%, which is much lower than the average for Northern Ireland (c.5.6%). There is some broadleaved woodland in the form of lowland woodland pasture and parkland, located at Galgorm Castle and its surrounding golf course. This extensive parkland has been modified considerably; there has been subdivision into housing plots, building of County Hall and creation of the golf course. In consequence, there is much modern planting and management (mowing etc). Nevertheless, large areas of the original planting remain; beech, sycamore, ash, oak and lime are common.

Apart from this, other wooded areas exist as wet woodland and scrub around areas of bog. These areas mainly consist of birch with occasional willow and form a wooded fringe around Sluggan Moss, Ballylurgan Bog and Flow Bog.

Grassland and Arable

Grassland forms about 74% of the land cover, slightly higher than the Northern Ireland average (71%). Almost all of the grassland is improved pasture (68%), although there are some damp grasslands along the floodplain of the River Main and Kells Water. Improved pastures generally have 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. Other grasslands have been converted to improved pastures through management. High levels of grazing or repeated cutting for silage, high inputs of fertilizers and slurry, and selective herbicides serve to reduce diversity of both flora and fauna.

Nevertheless, the mix of improved grasslands, arable and some woodland and damp pastures provides habitats for farmland birds - bullfinch, reed bunting and song thrush have been recorded in the LCA. In the damp grasslands, breeding waders have also been recorded - lapwing, curlew and snipe.

Arable land accounts for about 7% of the LCA, around the percentage for Northern Ireland as a whole. It is concentrated mainly to the north of the Kells Water on the better drained low hills.

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, especially where there are few semi-natural habitats. Hedgerows are a refuge for many woodland and farmland plants and animals.

Heath and Bogs

Areas of lowland raised bog are found mostly to the east of the River Main but in general they have largely been destroyed due to commercial peat extraction. Lowland raised bog is a rare habitat in the UK, and Northern Ireland has a large proportion of that remaining; in particular it has much of the intact lowland bog. In the best examples there is a diversity of structural features including hummocks and hollows and pools that give rise to micro-habitats related especially to the height of the water table. The plant species are adapted not only to the generally waterlogged, acid and low nutrient conditions, but also to these small-scale variations in topography and water level. Typical plant species include bog mosses, deer sedge, cotton sedges, bog asphodel, sundews, cross-leaved heath and common heather. Lowland raised bogs are also an important repository of environmental information from the past and, together with blanket bog, a significant store of carbon.

Sluggan Moss, located in the south of the LCA is an extensive area of mostly cut-over bog. The once extensive intact dome has largely been lost to peat milling. The hydrology of uncut areas has been disturbed by the extensive cutting although they remain important for wading birds such as lapwing, curlew and snipe and the marsh fritillary butterfly. Birch woodland, on cut-over areas, fringes the site. Other examples of cut-over bogs are Sharvogues, Ballylurgan and Flow Bog. At all of these sites the entire bog has been cut-over with birch woodland and marsh and wet grassland developing on cut-over areas; for example cut-over areas at Flow Bog that are not treed, have purple moor grass but of low diversity.

Heath in the LCA has developed mainly in areas of cut-over or drained bog.

Wetlands and Lakes

There are no extensive areas of open water in this LCA. The River Main, Braid River and Kells Water all have river water crowfoot. Otter is also found on the River Braid. The rivers are also important for salmon and trout.

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 woodland cover of variable biodiversity value

Actions:

• enhance the biodiversity value of demesne/parkland woodland through control of grazing and felling; by encouraging planting of saplings of the standard trees; by preventing further loss of parkland; by retention of fallen and veteran trees (particularly for bryophytes, ferns, fungi and fauna)
• further study of the history and ecology of demesne and other broadleaved woodlands particularly any ancient and long-established, as a key to future management
• encourage planting of native broadleaved plantations rather than the small conifer plantations which are of poor biodiversity and landscape value.
• ensure that wet woodland developing around cut-over bogs is not lost by drainage, reclamation or land-fill

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
• leave stubble over winter, rather than autumn ploughing, to increase food resources for farmland birds; spring sown cereals are beneficial to breeding farmland birds.

HEATH AND BOGS

Issue: raised bogs are of national and international importance, but no uncut bogs remain

Actions:

• maintain the integrity of existing lowland raised bogs, even if cut-over, by for example, preventing infilling, fly-tipping, fires, new drainage and new peat cutting
• consider restoration of raised bog habitats through appropriate water level management, and phasing out peat cutting - in particular consider the after-use of Sluggan once extraction is complete.

WETLANDS

Issue: important rivers with river water crowfoot, salmon and trout.

Actions:

• protect water quality of rivers through nutrient management and by reducing suspended sediments, 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
• monitor streams in relation to expansion of rural/urban housing and associated septic tanks/sewage treatment plants
• monitor streams in relation to peat extraction, particularly sediment deposition in spawning and nursery beds of salmonid fish, but also pH.

Click here to return to the Northern Ireland LCA Map