Report Cover Vol I - Clare County Library

The County Clare Wetlands Survey Patrick Crushell & Peter Foss 2008
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Soils of turlough basins can include marls, peat, clays or loams. Large boulders or exposures of bedrock
may also be present.
Turloughs support a range of different plant communities that comprise a mixture of aquatic, amphibious
and terrestrial species. Plant communities typically form a concentric pattern around the basin; the
different zones reflect differences in the extent
and duration of flooding. Wet grassland usually dominates and characteristic species include Creeping
Bent (Agrostis stolonifera), small sedges (particularly Carex nigra and C. panicea), Silverweed (Potentilla
anserina), Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens), Marsh
Pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris) and Amphibious Bistort (Polygonum amphibium). Permanent pools,
channels and lakes may also be present and may support Common Spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris),
Water-plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica), pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.), and tall reeds such as
Common Club-rush (Schoenoplectus lacustris).
Links with Annex I: Corresponds to the priority habitat, '*turloughs (3180)'.
FL7 Reservoirs
This category incorporates all open water bodies that are used for the storage and supply of water. It
includes natural lakes where water levels fluctuate significantly and unnaturally as a result of abstraction,
in addition to modified lakes with dams or retaining walls or banks. Entirely artificial water bodies, some
lined with concrete, that are used as reservoirs are also included here (See also other artificial lakes
and ponds - FL8). Other lakes where there is evidence of water abstraction (pumps, pump houses or
out flowing pipes) but where there are no indications of significant water level changes are not included
here. Redshank (Polygonum persicaria) is often common along the draw-down zone of reservoirs in
lowland areas
FL8 Other artificial lakes and ponds
This category should be used for artificial or ornamental bodies of standing water that may be found in
parks, demesnes, gardens or golf courses. Flooded quarries, tailings ponds and water treatment plants
(with open water) should also be included. The nutrient status of these artificial water bodies is variable
and may be high as in the case of hypertrophic lakes in urban parks. Moats can also be included here if
there is no obvious connection to a wider drainage network.
FW Watercourses
This section includes linear channels of freshwater that are primarily associated with drainage and the
movement or transport of water on the land surface. Sections of watercourses that flow underground are
not considered in this classification unless they feature as part of non-marine caves - EU1. Linear
water bodies with no obvious links to a wider drainage network (some moats and ornamental water
bodies) are excluded (See other artificial lakes and ponds - FL8). The main subdivision in this section
is between watercourses that are primarily natural (rivers) and those that are primarily artificial (canals
and drainage ditches). Rivers are divided into watercourses that are mainly eroding, as in the case of
upland streams, and those that are mainly depositing, as in the case of lowland rivers. No distinction is
made between streams and rivers.
Rivers differ from most artificial watercourses in that they have a strong unidirectional flow of water.
They are dynamic systems where water levels and flow rates can fluctuate markedly. The entire channel
is included as part of the river habitat, irrespective of water levels at the time of the survey. Natural
watercourses may flood beyond the limits of their banks but note that floodplains are excluded. Tidal
sections of rivers that are influenced by brackish waters should be considered under tidal rivers - CW2,
while the freshwater tidal sections should be included under depositing/lowland rivers - FW2. Note
that large fringing swamps or reed beds should be recorded separately (See reed and large sedge
swamps - FS1). Any mid-channel islands should be noted and classified on the basis of the habitats
present.
Links with Annex I: Clear unpolluted rivers can contain the annexed habitat, 'watercourses of plain to
montane levels with the Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho-Batrachion vegetation (3260)'. The
annexed habitat, 'rivers with muddy banks with Chenopodion rubri p.p. and Bidention p.p. vegetation
(3270)' can occur in association with rivers but stands are typically small and fragmented in Ireland.
FW1 Eroding/upland rivers
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