Louth Wetland Identification Survey Foss, Crushell, O’Loughlin & Wilson 2011 ____________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 5 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 6 3 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 3.1 PROJECT SET -UP .................................................................................................................................................... 8 4 IMPORTANCE OF WETLANDS IN COUNTY LOUTH .................................................................................... 9 4.1 DEFINITION ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 4.2 WHY CONSERVE WETLANDS ? .............................................................................................................................. 10 4.3 WETLAND VALUES .............................................................................................................................................. 11 5 COUNTY LOUTH WETLANDS ........................................................................................................................... 13 5.1 COUNTY LOUTH AN INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 13 5.2 COUNTY LOUTH ’S NATURAL WEALTH ................................................................................................................. 13 5.2.1 Topography and landforms ......................................................................................................................... 13 5.2.2 Geology ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 5.2.3 Soils ............................................................................................................................................................. 19 5.2.4 Climate ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 5.2.5 Ground and surface waters ......................................................................................................................... 21 5.3 PROTECTION OF LOUTH WETLANDS .................................................................................................................... 23 5.4 LOUTH FRESHWATER WETLAND TYPES .............................................................................................................. 25 5.5 WETLAND HABITATS IN COUNTY LOUTH – A BRIEF DESCRIPTION ...................................................................... 27 PAGE 1 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 27 PAGE 2 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 28 PAGE 3 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 29 PAGE 4 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 30 PAGE 5 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 31 PAGE 6 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32 PAGE 7 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 33 PAGE 8 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 34 PAGE 9 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 35 PAGE 10 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 36 PAGE 11 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 37 PAGE 12 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 38 PAGE 13 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 39 PAGE 14 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 40 PAGE 15 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41 PAGE 16 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 42 PAGE 17 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 43 PAGE 18 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 44 PAGE 19 INSERT 19 X PAGES ................................................................................................................................. 45 6 MATERIALS & METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 46 6.1 LOUTH WETLAND IDENTIFICATION SURVEY - SITE SELECTION .......................................................................... 46 6.2 LOUTH WETLAND IDENTIFICATION SURVEY - FIELD SURVEY ............................................................................. 46 6.3 CONSULTATION WITH LANDOWNERS .................................................................................................................. 48 6.4 HABITAT CLASSIFICATION .................................................................................................................................. 48 6.5 SITE CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION ........................................................................................... 48 6.6 LOUTH WETLAND IDENTIFICATION SURVEY DATABASE – STRUCTURE AND CONTENT ........................................ 48 1 Louth Wetland Identification Survey Foss, Crushell, O’Loughlin & Wilson 2011 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6.7 LOUTH WETLAND IDENTIFICATION SURVEY (LWS) – GIS DATASET .................................................................. 48 6.8 CONSTRAINTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 49 7 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................................. 50 7.1 LOUTH WETLAND IDENTIFICATION SURVEY ....................................................................................................... 50 7.2 WETLAND TYPES RECORDED ON SITE SURVEYS ................................................................................................. 50 7.3 PRIORITY HABITATS RECORDED ......................................................................................................................... 51 7.4 FLORAL OBSERVATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 52 7.5 FAUNAL OBSERVATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 52 7.6 DAMAGE TO COUNTY LOUTH WETLANDS ........................................................................................................... 52 7.7 SITE CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT ..................................................................................................................... 55 7.8 ADDITIONAL WETLANDS IN COUNTY LOUTH ...................................................................................................... 59 8 LOUTH WETLAND RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................... 61 8.1 DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT