Biodiversity on the bog
Seasons
What you see when you visit the bog can vary based on the time of year.
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Spring's bright green foliage, wildflowers and bog cotton make way for a sea of purple ling heather and rich orange hues in the late summer and fall. Frost can turn the muted winter brown of the bog into a sparkling wonderland.
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Habitats
​​The​ bog supports a number of different unique ecosystems—we've shared a bit on Abbeyleix Bog's woodland habitats, the raised bog and the cutover bog.
Read on to learn about the living species you might encounter as you walk along our pathways.
Woodland habitats
Trees and the bog​
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​On arrival to Abbeyleix Bog, you are surrounded by trees. While you continue to explore Abbeyleix Bog, you are in woodland habitats through most of the non-boardwalk pathways.
These trees form a mosaic of habitats that include scrub, coniferous, mixed, wet and bog woodland, and that support numerous plants and animals—including pine marten and fungi.
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Conifer plantations also fringes the bog, most of which were originally planted as part of the neighbouring Abbeyleix Estate.
Research shows that conifer plantations can negatively affect a bog's nutrient and water levels. We try to keep self-seeding forestry escapes from sneaking on to the bog, where possible.
Red squirrel or Sciurus vulgaris. Photo by Seamus Rowan.
Fallow Deer or Dama dama. Photo by Richard Duff.
Mammals
Look out for red squirrel especially in late summer collecting nuts from beech, oak and hazel. Rarely, deer cross the track or can be seen rustling in the trees.
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Birds
From March onwards through to mid-summer this area is rich with the sounds of both willow warbler and chiffchaff. These closely related species return each Spring from Africa to breed.
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Another bird to look out for is a member of the crow or Corvid family, the jay—note the blue wing patch and white rump.
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Insects
In high summer, this track can be teeming with butterflies! The most distinctive are large silverwashed fritillaries whose caterpillars feed on violets.
Another beautiful species, the green hairstreak, while relatively scarce is found mainly along the grassy rail track pre and post the boardwalk entrance.
The speckled wood, a brown butterfly with cream coloured spots, breeds on wild grasses in damp places and has three generations per year.​
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Jay or Garrulus glandarius. Photo by Richard Duff.
Willow warbler or Phylloscopus trochilus. Photo by Richard Duff.
Plants and fungi​​
Many wetland species grow here: yellow flag iris, bogbean, sedges, marsh marigold and fragrant water mint.
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The old railroad track was raised above the wet bog using crushed limestone. This raises the soil pH and creates a new habitat, which plants such as orchids and quaking grass have been found to thrive in at Abbeyleix Bog.
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Numerous types of fungi are also found in these woodland habitats.​
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Silverwashed fritillary or Argynnis paphia. Photo by Hugh Shepherd.
Turkey tail fungus or Trametes versicolor. Photo by Tina Claffey.
Yellow flag iris or Iris pseudacorus. Photo by Hugh Shepherd.
Green hairstreak or Callophrys rubi. Photo by Chris Uys.
Marsh marigold or Caltha palustris. Photo by Hugh Shepherd.
Photo by Kate Hotten.
Water-retaining Sphagnum moss species are the backbone of a raised bog.
Some grow in water—such as the bright green moss in this picture—and others on drier hillocks or mounds on the bog.
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Sphagnum mosses are a great sign of a functioning raised bog.
The raised bog
Our raised bog is divided down the middle by the main bog track—once a railway line serving Waterford, and later converted to our pathway.
The word ‘raised’ refers to the dome of peat that would have formed here over millennia. Raised bogs are the result of long processes of decaying plant and other organic matter that eventually overfilled entire lake beds in the Irish Midlands.
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Bogs are climate-positive landscapes. By keeping the bog's peat soils wet, we can keep vast amounts of carbon stored in those same soils—a 'carbon sink'.
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These wet habitats are also very acidic. This combination means that only specialised plants and animals can eek a living in the pools and on the hummocks of Abbeyleix Bog.
Plants and fungi​​​​​
Alongside the bog's sphagnum mosses are the carnivorous sundews, which get nutrients from catching insects on their sticky leaves. Many fungi can be found, too.
Fluffy white bog cotton and yellow asphodel are abundant in summer, along with sedges. Also keep an eye out for the seasonal bog rosemary and bog cranberry.
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The drier, more damaged parts of the raised bog are where you'll find ling heather growing.
Bearded (reindeer) lichen and matchstick lichen can also be seen growing among the heathers. ​
Devil’s matchstick or Cladonia floerkeana under reindeer lichen or Cladonia rangiferina. Photo by Hugh Shepherd.
Round-leaved sundew or Drosera rotundifolia. Photo by Chris Uys
Bog cranberry or Vaccinium oxycoccos. Photo by Chris Uys.
Meadow pipit or Anthus pratensis
Dark tussock moth or Dicallomera fascelina. Photo by Chris Uys.
Beautiful demoiselle or Calopteryx virgo. Photo by Tina Claffey.
Bog cotton or Eriophorum angustifolium. Photo by Chris Uys.
Bog asphodel or Narthecium ossifragum. Photo by Tina Claffey.
​Birds
Notable ground nesting bird species include the
meadow pipit—which, in Ireland, is the species most favoured by the cuckoo to raise its young.
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Insects and reptiles
Lots of insects can be found on the bog, with some specialists including the large heath butterfly and the dark tussock moth.
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In summer, many species of damselfly and dragonflies can be seen. These breed in the bog's pools and remaining drains. The large red damselfly is the earliest to emerge in late April. Blue-tailed damselfly and black darter fly later in the summer until autumn.
The damselflies and dragonflies feed on insects that thrive in the damp conditions. Many insects and microscopic creatures, including diving beetles and water skaters, live in the bog pools.
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Sphagnum moss species. Photo by Chris Uys.
Photo by Kate Hotten.
Our dipping-pond shows school children Great Diving Beetles, Newts, dragonfly larvae, freshwater shrimp and other aquatic creatures living in our waters.
The cutover bog
The cutover refers to the areas of Abbeyleix Bog that were historically harvested for turf to heat the homes of local families.
Harvesting was by hand and small scale and the impact limited to edges of the bog—look for it on the bog's eastern path.
A large network of drains was excavated across the bog in anticipation of commercial harvesting in the late 1990s but commercial harvesting never took place. This was the instigation for the Abbeyleix Bog Project!
The cutover is now an important area of the bog where the drier areas provide opportunity for a diverse range of plants and wildlife.
Pine Marten or Martes martes. Photo by Richard Duff.
Grey heron or Ardea cinerea
Mammals
Drier areas with pine, birch, heather and bilberry are used by deer, red fox, pine marten and red squirrel.
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Birds
Some cutover areas have recently had bunds (dams) built to keep rainwater on the bog and encourage regeneration especially of Sphagnum moss species which eventually form peat.
Recently, these wetter areas have encouraged visits from little egrets, grey heron and duck.​
Green Tiger Beetle or Cicindela campestris. Photo by Pat Somers.
​Insects and reptiles
Lizards often sunbathe on walkways to warm up
and to catch flies.
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Bees, hoverflies and other insects including butterflies can be found on special areas maintained for wildflowers such as devil’s-bit
Scabious, knapweed and wild orchids.
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Four-spotted chaser dragonfly, large red damselfly and beautiful demoiselle breed in small ponds feeding on other insects.
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Plants and fungi​​
Scarce plants such as wintergreen and adder’s tongue fern grow in areas flooded in winter, while the specialised royal fern can be found along remaining drains.
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Bog frog or Rana temporaria
Common Knapweed or Centaurea nigra with Brimstone or Gonepteryx rhamni. Photo by Tina Claffey
Large Red Damselfly or Pyrrhosoma nymphula. Photo by Chris Uys.
Fragrant Orchid or Gymnadenia conopsea. Photo by Fiona MacGowan.
Common lizard or Lacerate vivipara. Photo by Pat Somers.
