A Targeted Survey of Najas Flexilis
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A targeted survey of Najas flexilis ned in Department Green Unpublished Report, National Parks & Wildlife Service A targeted survey of Najas flexilis Cilian Roden and Paul Murphy Roden Ecology and Eireco Citation: Roden, C. & Murphy, P. (2014) Targeted survey of Najas flexilis. Unpublished Report, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Ireland. Keywords: Najas flexilis, Habitats Directive Site list: 2034, 1342,,297,1932,1919,2031,365,2130. Cover photos: © NPWS NPWS Project Officer for this report was: Deirdre Lynn; [email protected] © National Parks and Wildlife Service 2013 Targeted Najas survey ____________________________ Contents Contents .......................................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 2 Background .................................................................................................................. 2 Survey methods .............................................................................................................. 4 Results ............................................................................................................................. 7 The surveyed sites ....................................................................................................... 7 Lough Adoolig ......................................................................................................... 8 Lough Anillaunlughy ............................................................................................ 11 Cloonee Lough ....................................................................................................... 13 Lough Corrib .......................................................................................................... 15 Fin Lough ................................................................................................................ 17 Glenade Lough ....................................................................................................... 19 Keel Lough .............................................................................................................. 22 Kylemore Lough .................................................................................................... 25 Lettershask West .................................................................................................... 27 The Long Range ..................................................................................................... 29 Muckross Lough..................................................................................................... 31 Lough Nalawney .................................................................................................... 33 Lough Sruffauncam ............................................................................................... 35 Lough Truska ......................................................................................................... 37 Targeted Najas survey ____________________________ Tully Lough .............................................................................................................39 Upper Lake Killarney .............................................................................................41 Brief description of additional lakes surveyed ...........................................................43 Levally Lough Co. Mayo G145041 ...........................................................................43 Lough Talt Co. Sligo G401145 ..................................................................................44 Lough Nakeerogue , Achill, Co. Mayo F596076 ......................................................44 Lough Curreel, Connemara, Co. Galway L885445..................................................45 PHOTOS ........................................................................................................................46 Discussion ......................................................................................................................54 Defining Najas flexilis lakes based on associated species .......................................56 Within lake distribution of Najas flexilis ...................................................................59 Explanations for unconfirmed records ....................................................................62 Evaluating the records ...............................................................................................63 Proposed current status of the 16 records ................................................................65 Good records easy to locate ...................................................................................65 Good records difficult to locate .............................................................................65 Uncertain records but easy to locate if true (Fin, Corrib, Lettershask, Sruffauncam, Truska, Adoolig) .............................................................................66 Uncertain records with poor locality data ............................................................66 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................67 Recommendations on future monitoring ................................................................68 Bibliography & Relevant Literature ............................................................................69 Targeted Najas survey ____________________________ Targeted Najas survey ____________________________ Executive Summary 14 lakes with old or unconfirmed records for Najas flexilis were examined in July, August and September 2014. In addition two sites with very small populations were examined. Survey was by Snorkel with boat cover or by a pair of Snorkelers. Five extant populations were recorded. Three former populations appear to be extinct due to eutrophication. Six records are rejected as no plants were found and the original records are inconclusive It was not possible to ascertain the status of two populations. In addition full species lists were made of the macrophyte flora at each site. Several very rare species were recorded including Nitella gracilis, N. spanioclema and the fern Pilularia globulifera. Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the help of NPWS staff in completing this project. Dr Deirdre Lynn, Edwin Wymer, Dr Áine O’Connor and Dr Mike Wyse Jackson helped us in completing field work, preparing and editing the report and analysing old records. Jim Ryan and Hester Heuff took part in several lake explorations and discussed the problems of locating Najas in the Roundstone bog. Clare Heardman took part in our exploration of the Killarney lakes. Fisheries owners in Cloonee Lakes, Fin Lough, and Kylemore allowed us to explore their waters. Dr Mathew Jebb, Noeleen Smyth and Howard Fox of the Botanic Gardens Glasnevin helped in locating Najas specimens, as did Dr John Parnell of the Herbarium TCD. Ursula King provided information on her recent research into Najas. Prof. Jan Van Groenendael kindly helped with records from Roundstone bog. 1 Targeted Najas survey ____________________________ Introduction Background Najas flexilis is a rare water plant within the European Union, consequently it is listed in Annex II of the 1992 Habitats Directive, as a species in need of protection in the member states. Ireland and Scotland are the species’ main centre of distribution in Europe, although it is widespread in North America. The plant is a small annual which grows on the bottom of lakes, so it is difficult to find and is often overlooked. Year to year fluctuations in seed germination may also result in large variations in annual population size. The plant is most abundant in mesotrophic loughs often within a few kilometers of the seacoast, but few populations are found either in truly oligotrophic lakes or in hard water loughs on limestone. A wide range of associated macrophytes have been recorded in Ireland but two species, Isoetes lacustris (often an indicator of oligotrophic water) and Potamogeton perfoliatus (usually found in more base rich water) have been found in many surveyed sites. This overlap of contrasting species highlights the intermediate nature of Najas lakes. Other macrophytes such as Hydrilla verticillata, Callitriche hermaphroditica, Potamogeton obtusifolius and the charophyte Nitella confervacea which are scarce along the west coast of Ireland, also appear to favour this type of mesotrophic lough. H. verticillata is only known from two Irish lakes both of which also contain Najas flexilis. While the number of lakes containing Najas has increased steadily since the 19th century (Table 1) it is thought that this reflects increased recording rather than an increasing number of populations. In fact 17 populations have been recorded but have not been seen in more recent surveys. 2 Targeted Najas survey ____________________________ Table 1. The increase in recorded populations of N. flexilis in Ireland from 1875 to 2013. Year 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 2003 2004 2005 2013 No. of 2 7 8 12