Lichens go leor – Ravensdale Forest Park

Lichens go leor – Ravensdale Forest Park

Today, I visited Ravensdale Forest Park looking out for epiphytes

Ravensdale is a Coillte-owned plantation on the western side of the Cooleys. Historically, it was an estate and the ecological legacy of that history is clear.

A while back I found some of my first oceanic liverwort species here, so I decided to return to have another look. I was not disappointed. Along with seeing Plagiochila spinulosa on drystone walls (which I found for my first time on my last visit), I also found Scapania gracilis right beside it. On rocks near streams there was abundant Scapania nemorea and a few notchwort species too.

I was really excited to find some pelt lichen (Peltigera sp.) growing epiphytically on a fallen ash tree, growing on a soft cushion of moss, while polypody fern grow from between their thalli. As I ventured on, I saw more and more pelt lichen, both on mossy rocks and on tree trunks. Pelt lichen are one of my favourite lichens and I enjoy finding them in woodlands.

I made my way up the valley stream. This is a steep-sided river glen which is treacherous in places, but that didn’t stop me from attempting to scale down the almost vertical glen. I thought walking along the river would be easier and possibly more productive in finding bryophytes. After finding some great scented liverwort, I scaled up the glen on the other side and made my way to a lovely bridge which crosses the river at the top before opening away from the plantation. The trees, which are mostly sycamore and beech, along the river glen were festooned in epiphytes, giving a real sense of an oceanic woodland. Even more colonies of pelt lichen were growing on the sycamore trunks. Frullania tamarisci was also found beside the lichen on a young sycamore. Hazel, which was pretty rare here, but arguably should be much more common, had glue fungus on them, adding to the biodiversity.

There is a marked lack of oaks, which is unfortunate. Coillte have huge potential here to combat the cherry laurel and rhododendron and help the oaks regenerate along the glen. Allotting space where conifers can be removed and native trees allowed to regenerate would be essential. But I think targeting the invasive shrubs would be the immediate task at hand.

Image: pelt lichen on tree trunk (hand for scale)