Boho, County Fermanagh - Flora and Fauna - Flora

Flora

As a consequence of the local geology and low intensity farming practices, the Boho area has a high diversity of floral habitat types that is almost unparalleled in the whole of Northern Ireland as evidenced by the number of Areas of Special Scientific Interest, provisional ASSI's (pASSI), candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSAC) and proposed Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (pAONB). These range from open freshwater lakes to high calcareous grasslands and upland bogs.

Fen meadow is a classic Boho habitat type, consisting of wet fields locally described as a bog meadow, typified by the species Devil's-bit Scabious, Bog Thistle, Sedges and occasionally Tormentil, Purple Moor Grass and rushes (Juncaceae). In Northern Ireland, this type of terrain only covers 0.4% of the total land area and has decreased by 18% over the last ten years mainly due to the 21% decrease in Fermanagh coverage.

Drier habitats include calcareous grassland, which is very rare in a Northern Ireland context covering only 0.1% of the total land area, and which in only ten years, between 1990–2000, underwent a 7% decrease in coverage. Calcareous grassland is typified by a rich abundance of species (such as Blue Moor-Grass, Wild-Mountain Thyme, Lady's Bedstraw, Fairy Flax and Lady's-Mantle as well as Fescue Grasses, Sweet Vernal Grass, Bent Grass, Crested Dog's-tail Grass, Carnation Sedge Cyperaceae and Devil's-bit Scabious on the thin layer of soil which covers the limestone rock. Within this type of habitat, limestone pavement can also often be found, which can promote an even greater diversity of species.

Limestone grassland habitat in Northern Ireland is exclusive to County Fermanagh from the Boho–Knockmore region to Cuilcagh Mountain Park, this habitat and its associated karst features are so environmentally important that the latter Marble Arch region was designated part of the European Geoparks Network, the Global Network of National Geoparks and the world's first International Geopark, consequently adding international significance to the Boho landscape. In Boho, this type of land is often associated with dry stone walls, built from limestone, which are constructed in a peculiarly local style and are equally important from a wildlife habitat perspective.

There is also a lot of bogland in Boho, which is typified by species such as Bell Heather, Cross-leaved Heath and Ling (Common Heather). Other interesting bog plants to look out for are Sundew (which are carnivorous) and Bog Asphodels. The woodlands of Boho consist of a mixture of plantation woodlands and semi-natural broadleaf woodlands (mainly ash and hazel).

As well as these rich ecological resources, Boho is well known for its small field sizes, which consequently provides many field boundaries consisting of hedges and dry stone walls. Indeed in the whole of Northern Ireland it could be said that Fermanagh has the smallest field size, maybe 20–30 fields per square kilometre, whereas counties such as County Antrim may only have 3–8 fields covering the same area.