Garron Plateau
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Garron Plateau |
| Designated | 31 December 1998 |
| Reference no. | 969[1] |
Garron Plateau ASSI is a 4652.18-hectare area of special scientific interest in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Upland blanket bogs cover basalt rocks, and flushing by mineral-enriched water has resulted in the formation of alkaline fen vegetation. There are small areas of standing and running water but bogs, marshes, water fringed vegetation and fens cover 70% of the area. The remainder is heath and scrubland, humid grassland and mesophile grassland.
The peatland complex is composed of a series of raised and flushed peat bog and oligotrophic lakes. Plants include Erica tetralix, Trichophorum cespitosum, Eriophorum vaginatum, dwarf-shrubs and Sphagnum papillosum, Sphagnum fuscum and . Garron Plateau is the main Irish location for Carex pauciflora and Carex magellanica. The areas of flushed peat are floristically rich, with black bog-rush Schoenus nigricans and brown mosses. The site contains populations of Saxifraga hirculus and the bog orchid Hammarbya paludosa.[2]
References[]
- ^ "Garron Plateau". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ JNCC
- Nature reserves in Northern Ireland
- Ramsar sites in Northern Ireland