Glenshane 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

• a north-south spine of hills with steep slopes and intervening saddles
• diverse peatlands - eroded, cut-over, and drained with intact blanket bog on saddles and gentler slopes
• rough grassland on steep slopes
• improved pasture confined to the eastern border where there are also some rare, species-rich grasslands.

Woodlands

Broadleaf woodland occupies an insignificant proportion of the LCA and is confined to a few small streamside locations or other steep slopes. Hazel, willow and alder dominate, but there can be occasional sycamore and birch. State Forest accounts for approximately 3% of the LCA and comprises part of Glenshane Forest; Sitka spruce, larch and lodgepole pine are the most frequent species.

Grassland and Arable

Arable land is insignificant. Improved grassland accounts for about 17% and is located entirely in the lower lying land along the eastern border of the LCA.

Rough grazing is common; some is on steep slopes with thin peaty soils whereas other areas, often dominated by purple moor grass, are found on deeper peat soils that have been drained to improve grazing quality.

At Ballyknock ASSI a series of fields contains a variety of species-rich grasslands that are particularly rare in Northern Ireland, including a type known as 'fen meadow'. Fen meadow swards are dominated by grasses - red fescue, purple moor grass and Yorkshire fog - and typical herbs include meadow thistle, devil's-bit scabious, and orchids (greater butterfly-orchid, lesser butterfly-orchid and twayblade).

Heaths and Bogs

Blanket bog in this LCA is discontinuous and complex in its pattern of occurrence. Some summits and their steep slopes have thin, organic soils rather than peat and give rise to areas of rough grassland; these areas produce the discontinuous pattern. Elsewhere, summits and slopes have eroded peat, either in haggs or gullies, whereas in the east and south there are extensive areas of cut-over peat. Other peat slopes have been drained to improve grazing quality and are predominantly in coarse grasses including purple moor grass. Intact blanket bog is largely confined to patches in the centre of the LCA and to saddles between the summits or flat spurs. The extensive Carn/Glenshane ASSI peatland extends across both LCA 36 and LCA 39 and includes some of these intact areas. The intact bog at Ashlamaduff, on the extreme western edge of the LCA, is one of the few in this LCA to have a pool complex; generally, heather is dominant, with deer sedge and cotton sedge also common - an assemblage of plants indicative of relatively drier blanket peatland. One example of raised bog is found in the LCA at Ballynamona. This bog is at intermediate altitude and has been cut-over to leave a mosaic of heather-dominated bog, purple moor grass bog with abundant rushes, wet grassland and birch-dominated scrub - the latter dominating the edge of the site.

The diverse peatland is of importance to the biodiversity of the LCA, not only in producing different plant communities, but also as habitats for a range of animal and insect species. Northern Ireland Priority species recorded in the peatland areas include skylark, red grouse and Irish hare.

Mechanized peat extraction is confined largely to the north of Sheskin Bridge in the Glenshane Pass where it is extensive on the western side of the main road. Elsewhere there are only a few scattered incidences. In recent times threats to the blanket bog have been limited; there is no further forestry, limited peat extraction and few signs of over-grazing.

Wetlands and Lakes

There are no significant standing waters in the LCA and only small headwater streams. There are no evident threats to water quality

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 broadleaved woodlands by discouraging felling; by preventing loss of broadleaved woodlands; by retention of fallen and veteran trees (particularly for bryophytes, ferns, fungi and fauna)
• 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; monitor sites
• encourage planting of broadleaved woodlands through appropriate grant schemes rather than the conifer plantations and shelterbelts that are of poor biodiversity and landscape value; ensure that hazel scrub is not cleared

GRASSLAND AND ARABLE

Issue: poor biodiversity of improved pastures as a result of relatively intense management; however this LCA also contains rare species-rich grasslands within Ballyknock ASSI

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 and protect unsown areas of grassland including dry, calcareous grassland
• 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

HEATHS AND BOGS

Issue: raised bogs and blanket bogs, which are of national and international importance, support a number of NI Priority Species. Extensive areas are cut-over, but many can recover.

Actions:

• maintain the integrity of existing bogs by for example, preventing infilling, fly-tipping, fires, new drainage and mechanised peat cutting - applies particularly to intact bogs but cut-over bogs can provide important habitats for birds and invertebrates
• consider restoration of blanket bog habitats through appropriate water level management, removal of individual colonising trees and phasing out peat cutting - applies particularly to any areas of recent mechanical cutting
• prevent new forest planting on blanket bogs

Issue: loss of heathland and decline in its biodiversity

Actions:

• promote application of ESA or Moorland Scheme guidelines through consultation with farmers, 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: maintain the water quality of headwater streams

Actions:

• protect the water quality of rivers through nutrient management; prevent the release of particles released through peat cutting or forestry operations;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 peat cutting (sediment load and deposition); 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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