Newcastle Valleys 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

• long, rolling ridges aligned NW-SE, some with thin soils and less-intensively managed pastures, some of which in species-rich meadows; intensively managed pastures on deeper soils
• pastures with gorse hedgerows and broken stone walls
• small fens, some with willow carr, and damp grasslands between hills
• extensive woodlands along the western border, including significant estate woodlands.

Woodlands

Woodlands account for approximately 4% of the land cover, evenly split between broadleaved/mixed woodland and coniferous woodland. Most of the woodland is along the western border of the LCA from part of Castlewellan Forest in the north, through Corry Wood, Burrenwood and a small part of Tollymore Forest, to Tipperary Wood in the south. The small parts of Castlewellan and Tollymore Forests included are characterised by a mix of broadleaves (including beech, ash and oak) and conifers (larch, Douglas fir and spruce). Conifer plantations also occur at Corry Wood (south of a very species diverse parkland around the house), Burrenwood (which also has mature oaks and beeches from its parkland past) and Tipperary Wood (with oak, Norway maple and scrub around its edge). Common conifer species in these woods include larch, Douglas fir, and Scots pine.

From Tipperary Wood north-westward along the Shimna River, there is an extensive area of mixed planting around large houses. Common species include beech, sycamore, ash, oak, Douglas fir and pines, often with dense undergrowth of laurels and rhododendrons. The former parklands have in some cases been subdivided into housing, a process that continues and threatens further loss of trees with damage to both landscape quality and biodiversity. Further north at Annsborough, there is another concentration of parklands with similar species; here too there is a threat from further house building, but also there is general neglect and casual rubbish tipping.

Several other woods in the LCA are planted; for example, woodlands at both Dundrum Castle and at Shague Hill have a high proportion of non-native species (including beech, sycamore, Scots pine and sweet chestnut) although Shague Hill shows recent 'natural' regeneration. Examples of willow carr (wet woodland) include Collins Bog and Whistlebare Bog. Other areas of semi-natural woodland occupy stream sides, as along the Moneycarragh River where there are small hazel woodlands amongst scrub.

Grassland and Arable

Grassland accounts for around 72% of the land cover; almost all of this is managed pasture, but of varying levels of improvement. Except for the coastal area, soils are shallow in much of the LCA, but in some parts they become even thinner with bedrock at or near the surface; it is on these soils that some less improved pastures are found. Others occupy damper soils in basins or flat-floored valleys between the hills. These less-improved grasslands can have a diverse, species-rich meadow flora that is rare in this part of Northern Ireland (e.g. Ballylough grassland). (Lowland meadows). Rough grassland occurs in two belts - adjacent to the northern border where rocky outcrops are more common, and to the northwest of Newcastle where there are very steep slopes to stream sides and where there may be some urban blight. These less-improved pastures and rough grasslands tend to be more species rich, both in plants and animals; for example, the Irish Hare finds a refuge in less intensively managed grasslands and waders occupy some damp grasslands. In contrast, intensively managed grasslands have low biodiversity; hedgerows can add to the biodiversity but in this LCA many of the field boundaries are stone walls or if in hedges are of gorse.

Arable land occupies about 10% of the LCA, concentrated mainly on the deeper alluvial soils near the coast.

Heath and Bogs

There are no significant peat bogs remaining in the LCA, all have been cut-over and are now in fen or carr, or have been drained for pasture.

Wetlands and Lakes

Small patches of fen and carr are scattered through the LCA especially between hills in the northeast. Although small, these patches are important representatives of a declining habitat and some contain species that are rare or of limited distribution. For example, Ballybannan ASSI fen contains a number of vascular plants with a restricted distribution in the British Isles, including bog pimpernel, dioecious sedge, lesser clubmoss and black bog-rush. The site also has a diversity of fen types and small species-rich pools.

Ballylough is the only sizeable lake in the LCA; it is important to anglers but of limited biodiversity interest. There are few records of Priority Species for the rivers of the area, but as elsewhere in Northern Ireland it is important to biodiversity that the water quality is maintained.

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 of variable biodiversity value, but including the NI Priority Habitats Lowland woodland pastures and parkland and wet woodland

Actions:

• management of Lowland woodland pastures and parkland should be directed toward their survival; halt any further felling or pollarding; by retention of fallen and veteran trees (particularly for bryophytes, ferns, fungi and fauna); encourage control of grazing to foster herb layer and regeneration
• further study of the history and ecology of broadleaved woodlands within the LCA, particularly any ancient and long-established, as a key to future management
• ensure conservation of wet woodlands such as Collins Bog and Whistlebare Bog, by allowing succession to take place and installing fencing to prevent trampling; ensure that they are not lost through drainage, reclamation, landfill or dumping/tipping
• improve biodiversity through measures to improve and extend the woodland cover such as The Woodland Grant Scheme or The Farm Woodland Premium Scheme; management plans for demesne woodland should be directed toward their survival, through natural regrowth or planting of native broadleaf species

GRASSLAND AND ARABLE

Issue: managed pasture of varying levels of improvement, including the NI Priority Habitat Lowland meadows and the NI Priority Species Irish Hare

Actions:

• 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
• encourage (through participation in Environmental Schemes) adoption/continuance of less intensive management of pastures to allow reversion to/continuance of more species-rich grassland; protect species-rich meadow flora in less improved grasslands such as Ballylough,
• maintain and enhance damp grassland by where, possible, restricting field or arterial drainage
• leave stubble over winter, rather than autumn ploughing to increase food resources for farmland birds; spring-sown cereals are beneficial to farmland birds

WETLANDS AND LAKES

Issue: potential loss of carr and NI Priority Habitat fen

Action

• prevent further loss of fen through drainage, reclamation, land-fill and encroachment by scrub woodland; prevent dumping and fly-tipping and encourage removal of rubbish; divert the inflow of nutrient rich water from agricultural land into fens

Issue: pollution of water quality at Ballylough and rivers within the LCA

Actions:

• promote and encourage existing good farming practices so that rivers are not polluted by releases from silage effluent, herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers or sheep dip
• monitor streams in relation to expansion of rural/urban housing and associated septic tanks/sewage treatment plants
• recognise that monitoring of streams in relation to forestry and other operations upstream may be important

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