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Special Areas of Conservation

Turmennan

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country Northern Ireland
Unitary Authority Northern Ireland
Centroid* J485503
Latitude 54.3794
Longitude -5.7142
SAC EU Code UK0030291
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 14.83
* This is the approximate central point of the SAC. In the case of large, linear or composite sites, this may not represent the location where a feature occurs within the SAC.
Location of Turmennan SAC

General site character

  • Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (0.4%)
  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (50.1%)
  • Dry grassland, Steppes (18.5%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (31%)

Download the Standard Data Form for this site (PDF <100kb)

Note When undertaking an appropriate assessment of impacts at a site, all features of European importance (both primary and non-primary) need to be considered.

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • 7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs

    Turmennan is one of the best examples in Northern Ireland of a transition mire. The edaphic conditions are influenced by the position of the groundwater table in the surface peat layer, which is partly related to the extent of past peat-cutting over the site. The main plant community of the mire surface is formed by an extensive mixed sedge sward dominated by bottle sedge Carex rostrata and including species such as common sedge C. nigra, star sedge C. echinata, ragged-robin Lychnis flos-cuculi, marsh pennywort Hydrocotyle vulgaris and water horsetail Equisetum fluviatile. These species grow over a carpet of brown mosses dominated by Calliergon cuspidatum and C. cordifolium. In places where the water is more acidic, bog-mosses such as Sphagnum squarrosum and S. subnitens replace the brown mosses. Much of the central area of the site is dominated by common reed Phragmites australis. Other, more localised fen communities include a mixed sedge sward dominated by lesser tussock-sedge Carex diandra, floating mats of bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata and ‘soakways’ with the notable marsh St John’s-wort Hypericum elodes prominent.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

  • Not Applicable

Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of a site in these pages does not imply any right of public access.