Biodiversity in 2010 State of Knowledge Ireland’s Biodiversity in 2010: State of Knowledge Editors: Úna FitzPatrick, Eugenie Regan and Liam Lysaght Citation: FitzPatrick, Ú., Regan, E. and Lysaght, L. (editors)(2010) Ireland’s Biodiversity in 2010: State of Knowledge. National Biodiversity Data Centre, Waterford. © National Biodiversity Data Centre 2010 ISBN 978-1-906304-15-7 Contents Foreword 1 Introduction 3 Habitats (non-marine) 7 Vegetation 8 Fungi 9 Lichens 11 Bryophytes 12 Algae 13 Vascular plants 15 Non-insect invertebrates 17 Insects 21 Tunicates & lancelets 24 Marine fishes 25 Freshwater fishes 27 Amphibians & reptiles 29 Birds 31 Land mammals 33 Bats 34 Marine mammals 35 References 36 Appendix 41 The National Biodiversity Data Centre is an initiative of the Heritage Council and is operated under a service level agreement by Compass Informatics. The Centre is funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Foreword Dr Liam Lysaght Ireland, along with its EU partners, agreed to ‘Halt biodiversity loss by 2010’. Before we can halt biodiversity loss, we need to have some understanding of what that biodiversity resource is. As a contribution to this target, and to mark International Year of Biodiversity 2010, the National Biodiversity Data Centre set out to produce an overview of the state of knowledge on Ireland’s biodiversity. The scope of this task relates only to knowledge on what species and habitats occur in Ireland, how they are distributed, and how their range and/or populations are changing. Ecosystem function and conservation management are outside the remit of the Centre thus are not addressed in this document. The Centre hosted a two day meeting in Waterford on 26 & 27 August 2010 entitled Biodiversity Knowledge Quest. Leading national experts presented an overview of the state of knowledge on different aspects of Ireland’s biodiversity. Each overview was based on the following questions: • Is there a published checklist? • Have basic surveys been carried out? • Is there a national database? • Has a National conservation assessment been completed? • Are there monitoring systems in place? • Are there capacity building requirements? • Are there other knowledge gaps? These summaries have been brought together in two documents, and provide an important overview of the state of knowledge on Ireland’s biological diversity in 2010: • Fitzpatrick, Ú., Regan, E. and Lysaght, L. (editors), 2010. Ireland’s Biodiversity in 2010: State of Knowledge. National Biodiversity Data Centre, Waterford • National Biodiversity Data Centre, 2010. Ireland’s Biodiversity in 2010: Knowledge Gaps. National Biodiversity Data Centre, Waterford Top to bottom: Chafer beetle (L. Lysaght) Grey seal (E.W. Delaney) Bracket fungus (D. Heaphy) 1 This State of Knowledge document is the first inventory of the principal sources of biodiversity data in the Republic of Ireland. The information herein will be made available online at the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s website www.biodiversityireland.ie, and will be added to and kept up to date as the knowledge base expands over the coming years. Building the knowledge base on Ireland’s biological diversity is important as the goods and services provided by biodiversity are estimated to contribute a minimum of €2.6 billion per annum to the Irish economy. This natural capital is the foundation upon which our agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism sector depends and is vital for sustaining vital societal services such as clean water, productive soil and clean air. As the Irish economy seeks ways to revitalise itself, gaining a greater understanding of Ireland’s biodiversity and protecting Ireland’s natural capital should be one of the building blocks of that recovery. This document is laid out in sections following taxonomic grouping with an overview introduction by Dr Don Cotton. Each section follows the same format; Irish checklist, number of species, primary sources of distribution data, National conservation assessment, and monitoring or repeat surveys in place. This layout allows the reader to compare the state of knowledge of different groups. The Gaps document expands on this by highlighting those areas with knowledge gaps that could be addressed within the next ten years. Acknowledgements Many people were involved in the compilation of this document. Their advice and support are much appreciated. They are: Paul Connolly (Marine Institute), Mark Holmes (Natural History Museum), Ian O’Connor (Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology), Eamonn Kelly (Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government), Julia Nunn (Centre for Environmental Data and Recording), Cliona O’Brien (Heritage Council), Deirdre Lynn (National Parks and Wildlife Service). Thanks to Nigel Monaghan (Natural History Museum), Mick O’Toole (Marine Institute), Alan Lauder (BirdWatch Ireland), Louise Scally (National Platform for Biodiversity Research) and Colette O’Flynn (National Biodiversity Data Centre) for chairing sessions during the Knowledge Quest event. 2 Introduction Dr Don Cotton Introduction to the state of Ireland’s biodiversity In the global effort to protect the planet’s biodiversity it might seem that Ireland is an insignificant piece of land and marine continental shelf. However, we have a moral and legal responsibility to protect our biodiversity. As a developed nation we should also play a leadership role in this endeavour. Ireland does not support a particularly rich biological diversity due to its recent glacial history coupled with the geographical position. But there are some special habitats, and there are unique species and genetic variations within species in need of protection. Ecosystem and habitat diversity It is widely accepted by specialists working on diverse taxonomic groups that habitat and ecosystem protection is paramount to the conservation of species and genetic diversity. Describing the range of habitats is one of the most difficult yet important aspects of biodiversity. The publication of “A Guide to Habitats in Ireland” (Fossitt, 2000) was a great milestone, but the time is now right for it to be revised and extended. The involvement of people such as invertebrate ecologists and lichenologists is now needed to add descriptions of the micro-habitats that are crucial to the existence of their organisms. A modified system will make it easier for recorders to standardise habitat data that should accompany every biological record. A wide range of surveys have been carried out in Ireland over the last few years which concentrated upon special habitats that are uncommon or rare in the rest of Europe. Several surveys are on-going but attention is now being given to sub-marine habitats which occupy ten times the area of the terrestrial environment. Reports from these surveys are mostly unpublished, they are often very long and detailed and are consequently not used as widely as they deserve. A review that summarises the main findings of these reports would be a most valuable publication. Top to bottom: Connemara (S. Waldron) Irish hare (E.W. Delaney) Large carder bee (J. Breen) 3 Species diversity Knowledge of which species are found in Ireland has depended upon there being people with expertise in the taxa. In common with other countries there is an imbalance in the state of our knowledge because organisms that are larger, more attractive and terrestrial, tend to be the best studied and have good identification works. For convenience one can divide our knowledge of species diversity in Ireland into three categories : (a) Taxa that have regularly up-dated species lists and we know their geographical distributions and population trends There are very few vascular plants waiting to be added to the Irish list that stands at just over 1000 native species with another 1075 ‘alien’ species recorded. Not only that but we know their geographical distributions quite well and work is progressing on studies of sub-species and hybrids. A Red Data Book was published over 20 years ago but with all of the new information available an up-date version is now considered overdue. Vertebrates are also very thoroughly studied and it is generally possible to give an account of the distribution and ecology for about 550 species that includes all but the marine fish. There are organisations dedicated to specific groups within the vertebrates which has resulted in recent distribution maps, atlases and updated red lists. There are repeat distribution and abundance surveys in place for many of these groups of species some of which are reviewed on a cyclic basis. It is notable that larger and more attractive invertebrates have also received special attention. The butterflies have been studied for many years but this interest has now spread to the macro-moths and is beginning to filter down to the micro-moths. This means that 1,454 species in Order Lepidoptera are receiving enough attention that distribution maps and patterns of abundance can now be discerned. Proportion of species known from Ireland divided into five major catagories 4 The 34 Irish species of dragonflies and damselflies (Order Odonata) have also had maps produced and habitat information has been gathered. The Mollusca have been a very collectable group for many years and consequently there are good species lists for marine littoral, terrestrial, and freshwater species. There are also atlases and on-going studies as well as published Red Lists for the molluscs. It is important to say that people studying all of the above taxa would point The proportions of species by out that their group of organisms is still under-studied and there is so much threat category for each of the more to do! taxonomic groups that have been Red Listed in Ireland using the (b) Taxa for which there are species lists and a limited knowledge of IUCN methodology. their distribution, but little else Organisms in this category generally have species lists and publications because they are championed by a small number of enthusiastic individuals, often by amateur naturalists and sometimes by just one person.