Woodlands and Hedgerows

In Mayo old native woodlands can be found at Brackloon Wood, south of Westport and at Old Head Wood, a nature reserve near Louisburg; both are Special Areas of Conservation.

These habitats have an important value for biodiversity because they support a big range of wildlife and they include: blanket bog, old woodland, broadleaves woodland or riparian woodland.

Farmland

The most important part of Mayo farmland is devoted to agriculture but significant habitats for wildlife can be found in hedgerows, wet grassland, unimproved grassland, ponds and forests.

The Irish hare, badger, stoat and fox can all live here and a wide range of birds (whooper swans, twite and corncrakes) also take advantage of these habitats.

Limestone pavement

Limestone is a soft rock susceptible to water erosion. Exposed limestone rock can form gullies, hollows and channels and the soil is very rich in calcium.

It is often very important for the flora; in fact orchids can be found on rich grasslands and the rare shrub alder buckthorn occurs in damp woods and along limestone pavement near lake edges.

Lough Carra and Lough Mask are good examples of limestone pavement habitat.