Site Code
Country: United Kingdom
Central coordinates: 55.00208643o [55o 0' 7" North], -6.06190562o [6o 3' 42" West]
Administrative region: Northern Ireland (Antrim)
Area: 4627 ha
Altitude: 162 - 376
Site Description
The Garron plateau is the largest area of intact blanket bog in Northern Ireland. The peatland complex is comprised of a series of raised and flushed peat bog units, and a number of oligotrophic water bodies, all within an enveloping blanket bog peat mantle.
Botanical Significance
Noted for vascular plants and lichens.
The peatland exhibits a number of notable structural features such as large, well developed hummock and lawn complexes, pool complexes and eroding hagg complexes, in addition to quaking bogs and saddle mires. The general bog vegetation is characterised by Sphagnum mosses, ericoid dwarf-shrubs and sedges, with the composition and abundance of these components dependent on local edaphic conditions. Flat water-logged ground is characterised by the prominence of such species as Cross-leaved Heath Erica tetralix, Bog Asphodel Narthecium ossifragum and Common Cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium, over a lush Sphagnum moss carpet, while on more freely-draining slopes Heather Calluna vulgaris, Crowberry Empetrum nigrum and Hare’s-tail Cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum are more typical. The occurrence of weak flushing by the movement of water through the bog is indicated by the presence of scattered Purple Moor-grass Molinia caerulea or Bottle Sedge Carex rostrata. When this flushing is concentrated into localised runnels, the vegetation is characterised by small sedge communities, in wich species such as Carnation Sedge C. panacea, Yellow-sedge C. viridula, Glaucous Sedge C.flacca and Twany Sedge C.hostiana are prominent.
The site is rich in rare and notable plants including Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza traunsteineri, Bog Orchid Hammarbya paludos, Marsh Saxifrage Saxifraga hirculus, Few-flowered Sedge Carex pauciflora, both Bog-Sedge C. limosa and Tall Bog-Sede Carex magellanica, Parsley Fern Cryptogramma crispa, Oak fern Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Beech Fern Phegopteris connectilis, Alpine Clubmoss Diphasiastrum alpinum and the bryophytes Sphagnum imbricatum and S. fuscum.
Management guidance notes
None
Notes
None