Ballygowan Drumlins 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

• rolling drumlin topography gradually falling eastward to Strangford Lough
• pasture fields dominate in the south, arable and horticulture fields are abundant in the north
• loughs, fens and wet woodlands occupy many of the inter-drumlin hollows

Woodlands

Woodlands are scarce in the LCA, occupying around 3% of the land they are associated with demesnes or are wet woodlands. Demesne woodlands (Lowland woodland pasture and parkland) have a planted history and although usually dominated by broadleaved species such as beech, oak, sycamore and ash, most have conifers intermixed, often of Scots pine. Some demesnes have small conifer plantations of Scots pine, larch or spruce. The main examples are found at Saintfield House, Rowallane and Ballyalloly House. Wet woodlands comprise those growing at fen sites and those that have colonised cut-over bog. Typically alder and willow dominate these woodlands and they can form part of a complex of habitats that includes open water, reeds and fen.

Grassland and Arable

Grasslands comprise approx. 73% of the LCA but there is a marked difference between the northern and southern halves of the LCA. In the north, there are extensive stretches of country under highly productive improved pasture as well as large parts where fields of this kind of pasture are intimately mixed with arable fields. In the south, the core is a mix of low productivity and high productivity pasture fields with those of lower productivity often in damper sites. Poor quality grassland is frequent southeast of Saintfield and towards Raffrey; this results either from locations in damp inter-drumlin hollows or on thin, rocky soils. Although these grasslands are less productive than the improved pastures, they can have greater plant species diversity.

Extensive arable is confined largely to the north of the LCA around Ballystockart and to the north of Comber, but arable intermixed with pasture is extensive throughout the northern half of the LCA.

Heaths and Bogs

That part of the LCA extending south from around Ballygowan, contains a concentration of patches of lowland raised bog. These are some of the last remaining lowland bogs in Co. Down. All have been cut-over in the past, most have been colonized by birch, alder and willow and some have been converted to fen as a result of removal of the peat. Some have been used for dumping, in particular the once extensive Moneygreer Bog at Ballygowan. However, even here despite past cutting, draining, tree colonisation and dumping there are remnants of peat with heather in places. Two of the best remnants of raised bog, both with a cover of heather, are at Aughnadarragh Lough ASSI, near Darragh Cross and Ballymacashen, west of Balloo.

Wetlands

Inter-drumlin wetlands are characteristic of the southern half of the LCA; they comprise loughs, fens and wet woodlands - habitats that may be intermixed at one site - and some containing remnant patches of bog. These wetland sites are some of the most important nature conservation sites in the LCA and in Northern Ireland and are extremely significant in the biodiversity of the LCA.

Most of the loughs have been enriched by nutrients from surrounding farmland. Aughnadarragh Lough and Carrickmannan Lough have been classed as mesotrophic (mesotrophic lakes), an increasingly rare type of lake in Northern Ireland and one which, relative to other lake types, contains a higher proportion of nationally scarce and rare aquatic plants.

Ballyalloly Lough is one of the few located in the northern half of the LCA; it is part of a large site with several wetland habitats including fen and wet woodland. Small areas of fen are also found around some of the other loughs (e.g. Aughnadarragh Lough and Carrickmannan Lough).

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 the NI Priority Habitat Lowland woodland pasture and parkland, with areas of wet woodlands growing at fen sites and at sites of colonised cut-over bogs.

Actions:

• enhance the biodiversity value of demesne woodlands at Saintfield House, Rowallane and Ballyalloly, 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
• 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 should be directed toward their survival, through natural regrowth or planting of native broadleaf species
• encourage control of grazing in broadleaved woodlands to foster herb layer and regeneration and if necessary, encourage replanting of canopy species
• 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 by allowing succession to take place and installing fencing to prevent trampling; ensure that loss does not occur through drainage, reclamation, landfill or dumping/tipping

GRASSLAND AND ARABLE

Issue: improved pastures, mixed with intensively managed arable land of relatively low biodiversity value

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 and protect unsown areas of grassland including dry, calcareous grassland
• maintain and enhance damp 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: this LCA features some of the last remaining NI Priority Habitat lowland raised bogs in Co. Down, including Aughnadarragh Lough ASSI

Actions:

• maintain the integrity of existing lowland raised bogs by for example, preventing infilling, fly-tipping, fires, new drainage, encroachment by trees and mechanised peat cutting - applies particularly to intact bogs but cut-over bogs can provide important habitats for birds and invertebrates
• consider restoration of lowland raised bogs through appropriate water level management, removal of individual colonising trees and phasing out peat cutting - applies particularly to formerly intact bogs affected by recent mechanical cutting
• prevent new forest planting on lowland raised bogs, especially that which could be restored to active growth
• monitor use of cut-over bogs to ensure that important micro-habitats are not lost, that the large tracts of land required by predator birds are not broken up by planting and other uses, and that the needs of over-wintering and breeding wetland birds are met

Issue: potential loss of heather cover at Aughnadarragh Lough ASSI and Ballymacashen

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

WETLANDS AND LAKES

Issue: this LCA contains some of the most important wetland conservation sites in Northern Ireland including the NI Priority Habitats mesotrophic lakes, fen and wet woodland

Actions:

• promote and encourage adoption of Countryside Management guidelines so that mesotrophic lakes, fen and wet woodland are not polluted by releases from silage effluent, herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers or sheep dip; ensure that further eutrophication does not occur as a result of nutrient-rich surface waters from surrounding farmland
• monitor streams in relation to expansion of rural/urban housing and associated septic tanks/sewage treatment plants; monitor effects of recreation, including fishing, on shoreline communities (reedbeds, fens etc.)
• prevent further loss of fen 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
• ensure conservation of wet woodlands by allowing succession to take place and installing fencing to prevent trampling; ensure that loss does not occur through drainage, reclamation, landfill or dumping/tipping

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