04 Mar 2022

The EPA has published the EPA Research Report 403: EcoMetrics - Environmental supporting conditions for Groundwater Dependent Terrestrial Ecosystems. It emphasises the importance of maintaining biodiversity for habitat rich wetlands.

  • The research shows that water level duration envelopes can be clearly associated with required hydrological conditions for the ecological health of different wetland vegetation communities. It defined such envelopes for raised bogs, calcareous fens and turloughs.
  • The research also investigated water quality dynamics revealing these to be more complex than water level dynamics, involving accumulation and internal cycling of nutrients. Hence, clear thresholds cannot be confidently defined without additional, more targeted studies and more continual monitoring of such wetlands.
  • A new nested drone–satellite remote sensing methodology was developed as a tool to monitor wetland health.

Link to the Report: https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/water/research-403.php