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A new Irish wilderness? Trophic status and conservation potential of cutaway peatland lakes in Ireland

The Peat Development Board, Bord na Móna, has harvested Ireland's peatlands extensively for fuel since its foundation in 1946. As a result, by 2030 Ireland will have in excess of80 000 ha of redundant, worked out bogland known as cutaway peatland (EGAN 1998). Rehabilitating cutaway peatlands for wildlife conservation and public amenity is now a major post-harvesting use in many countries and, in Ireland, Bord na Móna plans to flood and revegetate an estimated 40 000 ha of cutaway peatland to form an extensive semi-natural wilderness (EGAN 1998). This represents one ofthe largest habitat creation opportunities to emerge in Europe in modern times. A proposed blueprint can be seen in Lough Boora Parklands, Co. Offaly, where Bord na Móna has created 400 ha of experimental waterbodies. Lakes are created using a variety of construction approaches involving varying levels of residual peat removal, hydrological manipulation, and post-flooding management (EGAN 1998). In the most comprehensive approach (Al), all residual peat from the cutaway site is removed and a deep basin is created, typically exposing the underlying mineral subsoils. A piped inflow is introduced from a nearby stream, and the lake is allowed to flood to 1-2 m depth. Aquatic plants and macroinvertebrate fauna are introduced to expedite natural recolonisation, and the surrounding landscape is reseeded to help stabilise the peat substratum. One example of this is Finnamore Wetland, which was constructed in this manner at costs of € 20 000-25 000/ha. In the second approach to lake creation (A2), the residual peat is partially excavated and used to form embankments and island regions within the lake basin. The area is flooded to about I -m depth by precipitation, groundwater seepage, and/or a supplemental piped inflow (McNALLY 1999), and natural recolonisation of the lake environs ensues. Turraun, Tumduff Mór and Drinagh are examples of wetlands developed using this strategy, at costs of around € 500/ha. In the simplest approach to lake construction (A3), lakes are created in naturally low-lying areas. The artificial drainage canals constructed during peat harvesting are infilled, allowing a shallow lake of 0.5-1 m to flood. Little on-site disturbance occurs using this approach, which is favoured by Bord na Móna because it enables large water bodies to be created with minimal financial expenditure (about € 200/ha). Clongawny Wetland was created using this approach. Our study focuses on the second (A2, partial peat removal) and third (A3, simple flooding) approaches to cutaway lake creation in the Irish midlands, assessing their implications for both water quality and conservation potential in existing and planned future cutaway peatland lakes.