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Project Metadata Element | Details |
Project Title | Forestry and Environment Impacts Addressing Water Quality and Biodiversity - Biodiversity Assessment of Afforestation Sites |
Research Area | Water |
Project Acronym | BIOFOREST |
Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Susan Iremonger |
Lead Institution or Organisation | University of Dublin, Trinity College (TCD) |
Lead Country | Ireland |
Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 53.34449, -6.25867 |
Lead Funding Entity | Environmental Protection Agency |
Approximate Project Start Date | 15/11/2000 |
Approximate Project Finishing Date | 15/03/2006 |
Project Website (if any) | |
Links to other Web-based resources | |
Project Keywords | Water Quality; Environmental Impacts; Biodiversity; Afforestation |
Project Abstract | Develop methodologies for biodiversity assessment and identify indicator species in important habitats which might be subjected to afforestation. Assess the efficacy of the Forestry Biodiversity guidelines and recommend improvements the above objectives will be achieved by identifying study sites and comparing afforestation sites with adjacent, closely comparable sites which are to remain unplanted. The location of the sites will be stratified according to habitat type and will include unimproved grassland, peat land and lowland agricultural sites, ensuring replication is maintained within any one habitat type. An in-depth inventory of all taxa is outside the scope of this project: instead a targeted approach will be used, with three avenues: 1. Literature searches and will be used to draft a suitable methodology for assessing the biodiversity of afforestation sites in Ireland; 2. Review current knowledge on the biodiversity of habitats most usually used for planting will be assembled and used to reinforce the choice of indicators of biodiversity in each habitat type, and 3. Surveys of flowering plants, ferns, mosses, liverworts, birds, and selected invertebrate fauna will be conducted in a number of study sites. Rare and threatened species and any special indicators will be highlighted. The literature reviews will provide information on the range of methodologies used overseas and inform the current projects of the best options and approaches. They will also provide a valuable tool for future work and publications and for interpreting the results from the Irish study in an international context. The data from the survey of non-afforested sites will be used a baseline against which changes in biodiversity can be monitored through the establishment and growth stages of the forest. These initial changes will be monitored at a range of sites over the first two years post-planting and will be able to inform management practices as to the likely effects on the species complement and may lead to the identification of potential procedures to ameliorate negative effects on biodiversity. The data will also begin to contribute to identifying the actual range and diversity of species present in Irish plantation forests. |