SPU CO12-2023 - Monitoring surveys to assess the conservation status of limestone pavement (8240) and associated habitats in Ireland

Descriptions

Ireland is obliged to undertake surveillance/monitoring (Article 11) of the habitats listed on Annex 1 of the EU Habitats Directive and to report regularly on their conservation status (Article 17). The assessment of conservation status requires an understanding of the distribution, area, structures and functions and the pressures impacting on these habitats. Designing an effective surveillance programme involves monitoring a representative sample of the resource across its natural range. Limestone pavements are geological features formed during the last ice age. They may be defined as areas of limestone which lie wholly or partially exposed on the surface of the ground and have been fissured by natural erosion. They usually demonstrate a pattern of clints and grikes although in some sites these features may be poorly developed. Ireland, with over 31,000 ha, has the most significant area of ice-sculpted limestone pavement in the EU. The vast majority of this occurs in the Burren region of Counties Clare and Galway, a well-surveyed and documented area, famous for the richness and diversity of its flora. Smaller and often isolated areas occur elsewhere, mostly in the west of the country, as far apart as Donegal and the Killarney National Park.Limestone pavements in Ireland vary considerably in both their geodiversity and biodiversity. Some consist of open expanses of massive blocks of bare, relatively unweathered rock, displaying well-developed clints and grikes; others are finely fractured or are covered with shattered rock rubble (shillett). The pavement may be almost devoid of vegetation, occur in mosaics of grassland, heath and scrub or be completely covered by scrub or woodland. In Ireland there are few plant species which are exclusive to limestone pavement, although certain species are characteristic even though they may be found in other habitats, e.g. dark-red helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens). The deeper grikes provide niches for a distinctive flora reli