1. VIRGINIA COLLEGE, IRELAND NATIVE AQUATIC FLORA AND FAUNA

2. THE TEAM TEACHERS MS COLLINS MS FLYNN MS FAUGHNAN STUDENTS COLETTE GREENE ZOE SMITH

3. AQUATIC ANIMALS IRELAND

4. WATER HABITAT STUDIED LOUGH RAMOR LOUGH RAMOR IS LOCATED BEHIND OUR SCHOOL

5. POSTER SKETCHES 1 st Prize 2nd Prize 3 rd Prize 4 th Prize

7. NATIVE ANIMALS Ireland has 375 fish species in its coastal waters and 40 freshwater species in its rivers and lakes. Most of these are pelagic. There are many aquatic mammals too, such as bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, and harbour porpoises. Sea turtles are also common off the western seaboard, and the walrus has also been found around the Irish coasts, but is very rare with only a handful of sightings. The cool, temperate waters around Ireland contain a huge variety of marine invertebrates. Some of this diversity can be observed in tide pools.

8. CORMORANT Identification: Large, mainly all dark seabird, often stands with wings out stretched drying. Long body and neck, long strong hooked bill. Dark webbed feet. Swims low in the water with bill raised. Often seen inland, unlike the similar looking Shag, where it breeds in trees. Adult breeding bird is black with a green, bronze and blue gloss to its plumage, yellow and white bare flesh at the base of its lower mandible and a white thigh patch. Cormorant lacks crest, instead having a sloping forehead which gives it a wedge shaped profile. Adult in non-breeding plumage lacks white thigh patch. Juvenile bird has very pale, even white, underparts and dark brown upperparts. Sub-adults have a variable amount of white in the underparts.

9. WIGEON Identification: Medium sized, with large rounded head, small bill and pointed tail. Male - head and neck chestnut, with creamy-yellow crown and forehead. Breast pinkish-grey, and the rest of the body is grey and white with black stern. Female rufous brown or greyish with various mottling. Speculum dull, dark.

10. SNIPE Identification: A relatively common wader but not easily seen, unless flushed out of marshy vegetation, when it typically towers away in a frantic zig zag fashion. The disproportionately long, straight bill is easily visible in flight. If you are lucky enough to see one standing partially or wholly out in the open (usually at the edge of reeds), you will make out the series of dark brown, pale buff and black stripes and bars on the head and body - this produces a good camouflage effect.

11. TEAL Identification: Small duck with short neck. Males with brown head, striking green patch which extends from the eye towards the back of the neck and is thinly bordered yellow. Grey bodied with horizontal white stripe along the body, green speculum and creamy-yellow patch bordered by black on either side of the rump. Females brown, streaked and mottled dark, with green speculum.

12. CURLEW Identification: The largest wader - very distinctive with long legs, bulky body, long neck and long decurved bill. Fairly uniform greyish brown, with bold dark streaking all over. Only likely confusion species is the smaller Whimbrel, which occurs in spring and autumn.

13. GREY HERON Identification: The grey plumage and stature of Grey Herons make them unmistakable. It is a very familiar species being widely distributed and a year-round resident in Ireland. Single birds are often flushed when posed motionlessly at the edge of water bodies, coiled ready to strike out at unsuspecting prey with its formidable spear-like bill. It feeds along the edge of a wide range of wetland habitats from coastal waters and estuaries to loughs, streams and marshy ground. They are usually encountered as solitary birds and sometimes as a pairs, although if observing breeding colonies - heronries - numbers can be in the 50s.

14. MALLARD Identification: Among the largest of our ducks (with the exception of Shelduck). Males with striking green head, yellow bill, white ring around the necj, grey underparts, blue speculum, black rump. Females brown in colour, but with blue speculum, dark stripe across the eye and whitish tail sides.

15. LAPWING Identification: Distinct black-and-white, pigeon-sized wader, with wide rounded wings and floppy beats in flight. Wispy crest extending upwards from back of head and green/purple irridescence seen at close range. Pinkish legs.

16. SWAN Identification: Similar to Bewick's Swan, but larger, with longer neck. Yellow and black bill, with the yellow projecting below the nostril.

17. OTTER OTTER IS A COMMON NAME FOR A CARNIVOROUS MAMMAL IN SUBFAMILY LUTRINAE. THE 13 EXTANT OTTER SPECIES ARE ALL SEMIAQUATIC OR AQUATIC, WITH DIETS BASED ON FISH AND INVERTABRATES. LUTRINAE IS A BRANCH OF THE WEASEL FAMILY MUSTEL, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES WEASALS, MARTENS, MINKS, POLECATS, EURASIAN AND AMERICAN BADGERS, HONEY BADGERS AND WOLVERINES.

18. WATER SHRIMP Freshwater shrimp make a good addition to most aquariums due to their ability as scavengers. Many freshwater shrimp species are very good at finding even the smallest food particle hiding in the sand and can thereby help you keep the aquarium clean and the water quality high.

19. FROG The Common Frog (Rana temporaria) is the only species of frog found in Ireland and is listed as an internationally important species. Frogs are protected under the European Union Habitats Directive and by the Irish Wildlife Act

20. NATIVE FLORA IN IRELAND IRELAND POSSESSES ALMOST 200,000 HECTARES (490,000 ACRES) OF ACTIVELY GROWING BOGS AND FENS. BOGSFENS HIGH RAINFALL- THERE ARE 175 RAIN-DAYS EACH YEAR IN THE WEST, SOUTHWEST AND NORTHWEST OF IRELAND AND POOR DRAINAGE. THE BOGS FORMED AT THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE, ABOUT 10,000 YEARS AGO IN THE CENTRAL LOWLANDS OF IRELAND IN BASINS OF CALCAREOUS BOULDER CLAY. THESE BECAME LAKES OVERGROWN WITH FEN VEGETATION AND INFILLED WITH FEN PEAT WHICH CUT OFF THE SURFACE PLANTS FROM MINERAL-RICH WATER BELOW. NUTRIENT-DEMANDING FEN PLANTS WERE THEN REPLACED BY BOG MOSSES AND PLANTS WHICH COULD SURVIVE ON LOW LEVELS OF NUTRIENTS. THE FEN PEAT BELOW PREVENTED THE RAINWATER DRAINING AWAY AND THE SPONGE-LIKE BOG MOSS AND PLANTS SOAKED IT UP.

21. OPEN WATER HABITATS OPEN WATER HABITATS INCLUDE RIVERS, CANALS, LAKES, RESERVOIRS, PONDS AND, UNIQUELY, TURLOUGHS). COMMON SPECIES OF WET PLACES INCLUDETURLOUGHS COMMON REED, MARSH WILLOWHERB, COMMON MARSH BEDSTRAW, WATER AVENS, ANGELICA, BROOKLIME, MARSH PENNYWORT, WATER PLANTAIN, MARSH CINQUEFOIL, MARSH MARIGOLD, WATERMINT, YELLOW WATER LILY, BULRUSH COMMON REEDMARSH WILLOWHERBCOMMON MARSH BEDSTRAWWATER AVENSANGELICABROOKLIMEMARSH PENNYWORTWATER PLANTAINMARSH CINQUEFOILMARSH MARIGOLDWATERMINTYELLOW WATER LILYBULRUSH AND THE INVASIVE SPECIES CANADIAN PONDWEED.CANADIAN PONDWEED

22. Marsh Marigold it is probably one of the most ancient native plants, surviving the glaciations and flourishing after the last retreat of the ice, in a landscape inundated with glacial meltwaters. they appear in early spring to late summer. The flowers are visited by a great variety of insects for pollen and for the nectar. Common Reed Where conditions are suitable it can spread at 5 metres or more per year by horizontal runners, which put down roots at regular intervals. It can grow in damp ground, in standing water up to 1 metre or so deep, or even as a floating mat.

23. Watermint Water mint occurs in the shallow margins and channels of streams, rivers, pools, dikes, ditches, canals, wet meadows, marshes and fens. If the plant grows in the water itself, it rises above the surface of the water. It generally occurs on mildly acidic, peaty soils. Yellow water lily This can be such a pretty sight on canals, pools, lakes and slow-moving, even stagnant but unpolluted, water. The large heart-shaped/oval leaves (with their overlapping basal lobes make a carpet on the water's surface with other leaves thin, translucent and submerged.

24. This is the area we did our study on in September

25. THANK YOU THE END