Conservation implications of land use practices on the plant and carabid beetle communities of two turloughs in Co. Galway, Ireland

Turloughs, which are unique to Ireland and are priority habitats under the European Habitats Directive, are seasonally flooded depressions found predominantly in the west of Ireland. In 1999, adjacent fields with different stocking densities were selected within two turloughs and plant carabid beetle communities investigated using releves and pitfall traps, respectively. Overall a positive relationship between % soil moisture and plant carabid species richness was detected and there was a negative correlation between % cover of bare ground (caused by poaching) and carabid species richness. In one turlough, the number of ruderal plant species was markedly higher in the field where the stocking density was more than twice that of the adjacent field. The results suggest that, while edaphic factors (such as soil moisture) play a role in determining the plant carabid communities of the turloughs, high stocking levels, which cause excessive poaching, are likely to seriously affect both communities. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.