A Preliminary Report on Areas of Scientific Interest in County Sligo

.... .,......,.. fix..,,... The National Institute CONSERVATION AND AMENITY for Physical ADVISORY SERVICE Planning and Construction Research A PRELIMINARY. REPORTON AREAS OF SCIENTIFIC INTERESTIN COUNTY SLIGO R R. Goodwillie, Research Assistant, An Foras Forbartha. November, 1972. St. Martin's House Waterloo Road Dublin 4 j n u COSAC - The National Council forSport and Physical Recreation COSAC - THE NATIONAL COUNCILFOR SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION u rl u J U'I n n u 1 This report is based on data abstractedfrom the files of the C r,s,'3t o Unit, An Foras Forbartha, from the publishedliteratur- and from sever-<'- periods of field observations in November,1972 - January, 1972.It a provisional document subject to future research. The report consists of the followingparts:- A. Preface 1 B . Vulnerability of habitats. C. Introduction to the areas of scientificinterest in County Sligo. D. Explanation of the criteria used inrating areas and deciding on their priority. 10 1 E. Table summarising details of the sitesdealt with. 12 F. Detailed reports on areas surveyed insufficient detail. 16 G. Table summarising the priority of thesites and recommendations for their protection. 117 1 1 ,l 'J SECTION A .11 PREFACE County This report concernscountry-planning .It should enable th,3 national or local leveland J to pick out those areasthat are important on a ed whose conservation canbe based on stronggrounds, either scientific, Advisory Service is tional or amenity. TheConservation and Amenity attempting to identify arepresentative range ofnatural and semi-natl.:ral significance habitats throughoutIreland and also tolist sites of special these usually containing a rarespecies or a rare naturalphenomenon. Around impunity, once amenityand areas development canproceed with relative that zh waste-disposal problems havebeen surmounted.It may be stressed the amount of land availableis such that developmentwill very seldom mean the impoverishment of thenational heritage, if it isproperly planned. On contrary, in particularexamples it will allow morepeople to obtain meaningful recreation in thecountryside. attractive areas where some or l However, conflictswill arise in scenically u make a of the elements of water,hills, woodland androck are combined to recreational interests . i desirable landscape, soughtafter by housing or t- same time such placesoften contain communitiesof plants and animals Usiualty it ing because of theirisolation from rural orurban development. forces but occasionally be possible to compromisebetween the opposing nte.--,st i,: development will have tobe curtailed to preservethe scientific an area. J Conservation of naturalcommunities may be importantfor amenity, sclen i Frequently, the hat-al or recreational reasonsor any combinationof the three. vegetation of an area givesto it a characteristicatmosphere, an indfinab9 Diversity is the value but very real to thosewho walk or drivethrough it. or that makes quality of the environmentthat attracts people to an area and wilderness , findrelaxation there: the contrastbetween cultivation also water and land or betweentrees and grass .Fortunately, diversity is the sine qua non of richbiological communities. u Examples of all habitats must be preservedfor scientific research. Uncultivated areas ere essential(is rc..servoir, for organisrulir,r;rn v tf useful for soil conditioningor pest control in the future.Quite epiirt from their inherent interest andcomplexity they are needed atscas control areas. Without them itwould be impossible to judge the effectiveness of,or to improve man'sattempts at land management.For example, howcan pollution be controlled ifno unpolluted watercourse or lake remains in which to decipherthe natural breakdown processes?Or how can the great productivityof marshes and seasonally floodedland he harnessed, if no naturalswamps are left?Finally, how can cutover bog 1 be best used for tree growingif no natural self-sustainingbog community or no wooded peaty areas exist? Thesequestions are of growing important,- in a competitive world thatdemands efficiency andan optimum level of food production compatiblewith little damage to the ecosystem. 1 In education, field studies ofall sorts are of immense value, and 1 biological field studiesare a stimulus that many other disciplines envy. Natural communities providesome of the clearest expositions of the ecological principles thatoperate through all growing and harvesting methods.In addition, there is the challengeof identifying and getting acquainted with numerous andvery different species. Field work attracts practically all children atsome stage and enables everyone to better appreciate being in rural surroundings. Already, since the introduction of biology teaching, there isgreater awareness of the environmentand interest in wildlife. Suchconstructive recreation should beencouraced by the maintenance of varietyin the countryside. 1 It is the intention of thissurvey to encourage the use of thecountryside , by drawing attention toscientifically interesting places.All of those mentioned can support muchgreater numbers of people- less so in , certain cases of marshes andbogs, or at certain times ofthe year. But the carrying-capacity ofeach site will eventually haveto be analysed. ' How much recreationaluse can co-exist with a nesting wildfowlpopulation? How many peoplecan walk a woodland floor without damagingthe plant cover?t J J Or what number of trees can be felled each yearwhile preserving the attractive features of the wood? The idea of preserving anybut the smallest areas intact and without change is unrealistic and multiple use should be encouraged. Many of the areas would respondto sound management and become much more productive. The majority of the sites listed are now productive in the crude sense ofproducing fish, game birds or timber. All are productive if they encouragepeople to u7 visit the area and make use of services nearby, andwe believe that all contribute to the relaxation, mental health and happiness ofthe community, especially the generation of town-dwellers that now form most of our nation. J J J SECTION B VULNERABILITY OF THE VARIOUS HABITATS Areas of scientific interestcan be damaged in many ways. They can b. completely destroyed by scrub or tree clearance,by turf-cutting or by arterial drainage, or they can suffer insidiouslythrough pollution, fe tiliz- r_io grazing or overuse in recreation. Of these various factors the firstposes the greatest threat because of the rapidity with which it can occur. In the absenceof a fine large enough to be a sure deterrent to a developer, cooperationto maintain the county's deciduous woodlands must be actively soughtat all levels of landowner, forester and the general public.It will seldom be sufficient to put a prevention order on an area which would lose its valueimmediately the trees are felled. The voluntary organisations havea role to play in this, acting as observers throughout the country. Short of tree clearance, underplanting withconifers is the most damaging influence that can overtake a wood.It destroys the intricate communities of the forest floor and tree-trunks whichare usually of greater interest than the trees themselves and it also preventsregeneration of the native species. Drainage schemes of all sorts have seriousconsequences for the importance ofaquatic sites, and would damage Bunduff and TemplehouseLoughs L- ign i icca;n,:l With the larger lakes the damage would betemporary, until the present shore communities spread to lower levels. As is well known, pollution of water bodies changestheir character to begin with, and if it is continued has bad effectson water quality and fish life. Aquatic communities are muchmore vulnerable than terrestrial ones since the incoming matter cannot be localised. Also theyrequire less nutrients the land.For these reasons, development upstream of importantareas mast be carefully controlled, and alternative sitesfor domestic or agricultrual developments - or drainage routes from them- must always be considered if such an area is involved. ,l J Several agricultural influences may adversely affect areas apart from straight-forward pollution by silage effluent or intensive livestock-: units . Fertilization of a natural community, in the attempt to improveits grazing J value, will cause great changes in species composition and nayin fac make it more susceptible to degredation.If a blanket bog or dune system is fertilized, grasses and weed species will become dominant andthe natural species that are important stabilizers may be destroyed.If this treatment then lapses, the demanding species will not persist and erosionis possible before the native species return.The Council should be mindful of such processes even though they will seldom have power to preventchanges in land use. Grazing has its most noticeable effect in woodland where itimpairs tree regeneration and may completely prevent it.Grazing of grassland also changes the species composition and carried to extremes may notallow a complete cover to persist.This would be especially damaging on sand dunes and the Council in its capacity to preserve openspaces must show its concern where overgrazing is occurring. The last influence to be mentioned is that of publicpressure on land which deserves a place for its destructive aspects of plant oranimal collecting and overuse of fragile systems, especially sand dunes. Though dune erosion and movement are natural processes, equally natural is therepairing action of plant growth and the migration of foredunes

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