GORDON D’ARCY

 Strawberry tree by Zoe Devlin

Wildlife WHAT’S TO BECOME OF OUR WILDLIFE? Origins

BY GORDON D'ARCY

Away from the demands of outdoor events and fieldwork, the winter is a great time for reflection. Questions come to mind, stimulated by environmental pressures and demands of a growing, fast moving population. How do we see the future of wildlife in this country? Is the conservation message well established among people at large or will we continue to rely on the strictures of the European Union to protect our biodiversity and the habitats they must have, to thrive? Though the many Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas constitute a vital mosaic of protectorates what about the numerous, but often overlooked, local reservoirs of biodiversity? Wildlife corridors, whether linking habitats on a local or political basis are essential for the wellbeing of nature that does not recognise boundaries. That it can be done with cooperation among disparate groups including naturalists, local residents, community activists and politicians has been demonstrated in the creation of the Terryland Forest Park, a marvellous wildlife corridor extending from the boundary to the heart of Galway City.

With 40% in a substandard condition, the recent Environmental Protection Agency report on our rivers and lakes makes for sad reading. Run-off pollution from agriculture and domestic sources is again cited as the main problem. Will new farming initiatives combined

with more rigorous domestic effluent control, backed by EU pressure, eventually bring Ireland’s waterways to a better place?

Whatever about the implementation of conservation legislation, the condition of our natural habitats – whether terrestrial or aquatic- will remain an inescapable issue for future generations of nature lovers.

Change is the great imponderable. Looking back at the relentless manner in which our wild places – forests, wetlands, bogs, etc. – have been radically altered by human activity, it’s a wonder that representative habitats remain. It’s an even greater wonder that remnant flora and fauna have endured: the various Arctic/Alpine plants; a trio of endemic mammals and a few bird species, for instance. In contrast to this continuity, are the losses – wolf, wildcat, wild boar, a dozen or so birds that we know about and numerous unrecognised invertebrates and plants. The return of the great-spotted woodpecker, the buzzard and (most recently) the crane, however, has shown that change is often a two-way phenomenon.

Ireland’s natural history is far from being unique. A major characteristic of islands is species ‘turn-over’ and indeed, extinction. Such biogeographical instability is a feature of many similar sized islands throughout the world. Theories abound as to the arrival and departure of species. The late Prof. Mitchell’s westward ‘steeple-chase’ theory for the arrival of species in Ireland (substantially fewer than our neighbouring island), based on the natural obstacles of the English Channel, the Pennines and the Irish Sea, is no longer regarded as an adequate explanation. Modern scientific investigation points to incursion from the south, for many species. Post-glacial ‘refugia’, temporary islands (vanished due to sea-level rise) to the south of Ireland are now suggested as more likely avenues of incursion.

While biodiversity fluctuations have always been attributed to man’s activities, modern advances in dating processes and genetic sequencing have enabled a clearer picture to emerge. Currently ‘revisionism’ is concentrated on the well-documented Lusitanian flora and fauna. Formerly, this suite (a number of rare plants, the Kerry slug, natterjack toad, etc.) were regarded as unaided post-glacial arrivals to Ireland. A startling alternative has been mooted, however, based on recent botanical investigations carried out by Micheline Sheehy Skeffington and Nick Scott (and published in the journal British & Irish Botany) into the provenance of the arbutus or strawberry tree (which grows wild in County Kerry). According

 Natterjack toad by P. Fogarty

to the theory, the tree was brought to Ireland by copper miners from northern Spain, during the Bronze Age. An impressively detailed investigation including genetic sequencing presents a convincing argument. Do we therefore need to revise our attitude to the role of humans as vectors of wildlife transportation to and from Ireland?

The issue of wildlife distribution also presents anomalies which may involve humans. The yew tree, once widespread as indicated by the many associated place names, has nowadays a restricted range, surely due to it being poisonous to cattle. In this case the influence is unambiguous. But what about the current range of the windseeded Arctic/Alpine mountain avens. This plant is entirely absent from the Aran Islands despite being ubiquitous on the nearby Burren. Was it, as has been proposed, once present, but due to a paucity of alternatives, grubbed up for use as fuel? One of the most puzzling distribution cases is that of three of our resident butterflies – the pearl-bordered fritillary, the brown hairstreak and a wood white – confined to Ireland’s mid-west region, far removed from their south of England range in the UK. Are the west of Ireland populations remnants of a once wider range or has there been an indirect human-involved explanation in their distribution?

In a world of ever-expanding links, where change outpaces continuity, where genetics casts new, often unexpected, light on the investigative process, do we need to revise our ideas about what we actually consider Irish wildlife to be- or become? "CURRENTLY ‘REVISIONISM’ IS CONCENTRATED ON THE WELLDOCUMENTED LUSITANIAN FLORA AND FAUNA"