Friday, February 23, 2007

Kildare bog home to 21 of Ireland's 28(ish) butterfly species

Lullymore West Bog in Co. Kildare is being conserved by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council for its incredible diversity of butterflies. According to the IPCC:

"With 21 out of the 28 Irish resident breeding butterfly species finding refuge here, including the endangered Marsh Fritillary, this fragile wetland habitat is exceptional in Ireland... The remoteness of the bog is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it's fantastic for wildlife watching, but on the other it allows unscrupulous people to undertake anti-social activities at our bog, such as dumping, quad biking and tree felling."

In response the IPCC have developed a management plan to guide activities at the 4.5 hectare site for the next five years (to 2012). Plans include
  • providing fencing, information signs and visitor guidance;
  • carrying out habitat and species mapping and
  • setting up a long term butterfly transect to enable ongoing monitoring.

You can find out more, see photos and donate to the Lullymore West project.

Other sources indicate that there are actually closer to 31 species of butterfly in Ireland.

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The island of ireland

Once upon a time, and for 15000 years, ice a mile high blanketed Ireland. When the lingering Ice Age finally released and the Irish ice departed it left a landscape scoured. Across land bridges linking Ireland, Britain and mainland Europe plants and animals arrived to colonise the new lowlands, mountains and valleys. The world’s ice continued to melt, the sea levels to rise, and some 8000 years ago Ireland became the island we now know, accounting for just 0.01% of the world's total land area and the most westerly point of Europe.

Though at Alaskan latitudes, the country's climate is tempered, due partly to the neighbouring waters of the Gulf Stream and partly the prevailing southwesterlies that veering and backing make landfall on our sodden coast. These offerings from the Atlantic mean it is never too hot, never too cold. But without doubt it is wet. Rain lingers year round, never far away, though is most frequent in winter, the western counties and, inevitably, on the day of your parade.