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Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

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Riparian zones Area along stream Dimensions delineation Vital for stream condition Forms the edge

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Page 1: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams

Cormac Mc ConigleyDr. Heather Lally

Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Page 2: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Headwaters First and second order

Under 3m wide

77% of total river network

Heterogeneous: rapid longitudinal change

Edge to discharge ratio

Page 3: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Riparian zones

Area along stream

Dimensions delineation

Vital for stream condition

Forms the edge

Page 4: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Functions of the riparian zone

Carbon

Filtration

Stabilisation

Temperature regulation

Intrinsic value

Page 5: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Site attributesSite Soil type Coordinates County Width (m) Depth (m)

31 Peat F 850 193 Mayo 2.64 0.11

50 Peat V 959 830 Kerry 2.00 0.66

58 Peat C 033 239 Donegal 1.40 0.42

65 Peat M 112 345 Galway 2.00 0.83

21 Peat B 043 228 Donegal 2.50 0.80

23 Peat B 913 138 Donegal 0.38 0.15

2 Peaty podzol O 110 112 Wicklow 1.70 0.14

7 Peaty podzol O 120 084 Wicklow 2.43 0.34

10 Peaty podzol O 150 142 Wicklow 0.93 0.23

39 Peaty podzol L 719 563 Galway 0.83 0.31

70 Peaty podzol W 896 572 Cork 1.20 0.25

Table1. Attributes of 11 upland headwater sites

Page 6: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

S2 R

S2 L

S1 L

S3 R

S1 R

S3 L

100m

10m

Moorland

Moorland

Page 7: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

S2 R

S2 L

S1 L

S1 R

R1

R2

R3

Station

2m

10 m

Moorland

Moorland

Page 8: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Statistical analysis

Standardised

Cluster

PERMANOVA

UnivariateA B C D E F

020406080

100

Mean Organic matter content for each of the groups ± SD

Page 9: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Cluster analysis of 179 relevés

A Ba b c d e f

Page 10: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

nMDS from cluster analysis

48% cover

Page 11: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

nMDS from cluster analysisa BryophytaSphagnum

b Potentilla erecta Juncus effusus

c Calluna vulgarisVaccinium myrtillus

d Pteridium aquilinumBryophyta

e AnthoxanthumodoratumMolinia caerulea

f Juncus effususBryophyta

Page 12: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

nMDS labelled by county

b Potentilla erecta Juncus effusus

e AnthoxanthumodoratumMolinia caerulea

a BryophytaSphagnum

c Calluna vulgarisVaccinium myrtillus

Wicklow

d Pteridium aquilinumBryophytaf Juncus effusus

Bryophyta

Page 13: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

A B C D E F0

4

8

12

Mean number of taxa within groups ± SD

Univariate

A B C D E F0

1

2

3

Shannon diversity of each of the groups ± SD

A B C D E F0

2

4

6

Mean soil pH of the groups ± SD

A B C D E F0

1

2

3

Species richness within the groups ± SD

(S-1)logN

Page 14: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Mean organic content

A B C D E F0

20

40

60

80

100Mean organic matter content for each of the groups ± SD

Page 15: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Summary

Wicklow

High organic matter

Page 16: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Conclusions

Equal diversity across groups

Molinia caerulea most important for grouping

East/West divide

Organic content of soil

Page 17: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Acknowledgements

Dr Mary Kelly-QuinnDr. Heather Lally

My funders: Department of Agriculture Food and Marine

Partners: Woodlands of Ireland& Coillte

Page 18: Characteristics of the vegetation community of the riparian zone of headwater streams Cormac Mc Conigley Dr. Heather Lally Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn

Thank you

Questions??

Correspondence: [email protected]