Species at Risk in Ireland

Researchers have documented more than 40,000 species in Ireland. This large number is possible because the island offers the environmental conditions and habitats for a range of species so that plants and animals can live, thrive and reproduce. However, this diversity of species has become increasing under threat from changes in land management and other changes caused by humans that have reduced the quality of habitats and harmed the environment for these organisms. The effects of these changes has meant that 20 percent of Ireland’s species are now threatened with extinction. Here are just a few of them:

Top 10 Spices at Risk Of Losing

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Curlew - Just 130 breeding pairs of Curlew have been recorded in Ireland in the last few years. This is a fall of 97 percent fall from about 5,000 breeding pairs recorded in the late 1980s. Curlews have lost a lot of their habitat due to advances in land management which means there are no longer damp, rushy pastures and bogland for them to nest. Nests have also been destroyed by predators such as foxes and crows, who often thrive in the newer, heavily modified and fragmented landscapes. Curlews are still seen in good numbers during the winter months, but these are visitors from Scotland and Scandinavia. The Curlew Conservation Society is working with farmers to ensure farming operations support breeding success, by delaying mowing and encouraging beneficial farming practices including changing livestock grazing regimes. Since 2018 a Post-doctoral researcher has been analysing the effectiveness of these actions.
Curlew - Just 130 breeding pairs of Curlew have been recorded in Ireland in the last few years. This is a fall of 97 percent fall from about 5,000 breeding pairs recorded in the late 1980s. Curlews have lost a lot of their habitat due to advances in land management which means there are no longer damp, rushy pastures and bogland for them to nest. Nests have also been destroyed by predators such as foxes and crows, who often thrive in the newer, heavily modified and fragmented landscapes. Curlews are still seen in good numbers during the winter months, but these are visitors from Scotland and Scandinavia. The Curlew Conservation Society is working with farmers to ensure farming operations support breeding success, by delaying mowing and encouraging beneficial farming practices including changing livestock grazing regimes. Since 2018 a Post-doctoral researcher has been analysing the effectiveness of these actions.

Curlew

European eel / Anguilla anguilla - The European eel is found in rivers and lakes of all sizes. Irish eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean and the larvae, known as glass eels, migrate to Irish coastal waters, which can take several months. On arrival they swim upstream through Ireland's river network where they remain in freshwater until the ages of between seven and 20, when they are matured into 'silver eels' when they migrate downstream at the start of their journey back to their breeding grounds in the Sargasso Sea. In October 2011, after a fall in the population of about 93 percent since the 1980s, the European eel was classified as Critically Endangered on the All-Ireland IUCN Red Data List for Freshwater Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles, making it Ireland’s most threatened native fish species. Research is ongoing to assist in the repopulation of the species.

European eel

Great Yellow Bumblebee / Bombus distinguendus - Though never common in Ireland, the Great Yellow Bumblebee is now listed as endangered in Ireland, listed as Vulnerable in European Red List of Bees in 2014. There are now only a few remaining populations found predominantly along the western coast in floral rich coastal dunes and machair, the healthiest being on the Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo. The Great Yellow Bumblebee emerges from hibernation later than most other bumblebees to coincide with the peak of grassland floras. It is suggested that the decline in numbers has been in direct correlation with the decline of the habitat they need to survive. This is suspected to be caused by the widespread replacement of hay with silage in the agricultural landscape, which results in earlier and more frequent mowing and a reduction in late summer wild flowers.

Yellow Bumblebee

Alpine Saxifrage / Saxifraga nivalis - The Alpine Saxifrage is a perennial arctic-alpine species that is exceptionally rare in Ireland. Apart from Snowdonia in Wales the Saxifraga nivalis plant is mostly found in the Scottish Highlands where it is found on rocks in water or open vegetation in shaded sites, often on mountain ledges and crags. As it is not very tolerant of competition it can usually be found in damp crevasses. Whilst Saxifraga nivalis is not in decline in Scotland, there is only one record of the species in Ireland, on limestone cliffs in County Sligo. It is possible there was a wider distribution in the past, but with just one area remaining the risk of extinction from any random event remains high.

Alpine Saxifrage

Atlantic Salmon / Salmo Salar - Whilst farmed Atlantic salmon increased by almost 1,000 percent between 1990 and 2015, and 75 per cent of the salmon now eaten is farm-raised, the stocks of wild Atlantic Salmon have dropped by 60 percent, with far fewer fish are spawning in Irish rivers than previously. The decrease is blamed on many factors including over-fishing, pollution, sea lice, disruption to migration due to changes in river morphology, and ocean warming caused by climate change. In August 2017, thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped from a salmon farm on the shores of the US Washington State, introducing a non-native species into a delicate ecosystem adding to the risk to the wild salmon through the transfer of parasites and diseases into the wild, where they cannot be treated

Atlantic Salmon

Wall / Lasiommata megera - The wall is a brown butterfly with large, bright orange patches on the wings which likes to live in dry and open unimproved habitats. It got the name because it rests on walls with its wings open, enjoying the warmth from the sun so that it is able to fly. Their numbers have decreased by 50 percent over the last two decades and is now rare in places where it was once common. It is still found at many inland sites and coastal sites see the largest numbers, particularly in the west and northwest of the Ireland, but is one of six butterfly species threatened with extinction in the country. It is the loss of habitat that is blamed for the decline in numbers.

Wall

Twite / Carduelis flavirostris - The Twite is a small finch found in the north-west of Ireland. In appearance it looks like a dainty female linnet, though its upperparts and under parts are more heavily streaked with black than linnet. Twites used to breed all around the Irish coast, feeding from weeds in arable fields. As agriculture has become increasing specialisation and due to overgrazing the number of breeding habitats has fallen to about 100 breeding pairs, found only on the peatlands in the counties of Mayo and Donegal, at Carrick-a-Rede and Ballintoy and sporadically on Rathlin Island. Twites are probably the rarest breeding member of the finch family in Ireland, which is why they are considered at risk of extinction.

Twite

Freshwater Pearl Mussel / Margaritifera margaritifera - The freshwater pearl mussel living in the right conditions, can live to be 100 years old. Found in clean, fast-flowing rivers, these molluscs are said to be one of Ireland's longest living animals. Unfortunately, due to their complex lifecycle they are very sensitive to pollution, particularly sedimentation of river channels, which stops the young reaching maturity which therefore reduces the populations. Juvenile and young freshwater pearl mussels live buried in the substratum for five or more years so that they are not washed away by fast-flowing water, but this makes them particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation. Scientists estimate that 90 percent of the freshwater pearl mussel population has died out across Europe, and it became Critically Endangered species in Ireland in 2009 and in Europe in 2011.

Pearl Mussel

Thrift Clearwing / Pyropteron muscaeformis - The Thrift Clearwing is a moth found at coastal rocky shores where its larval foodplant Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima) grows, the caterpillars feeding in the roots and crowns. The adults fly from early June to late July during the day. Now listed as Critically Endangered in Ireland, the Thrift Clearwing used to be seen at a number of coastal sites from Dublin southwards to Clare, however since 2000 it has only been recorded at two sites in west Cork. The reasons for this decline are unknown as potential habitats remain commonplace as are the flowers of the foodplant as well as those of thyme. They can also be attracted by the use of pheromones.

Thrift Clearwing

White Skate / Rostroraja alba - The White Skate is a large, slow growing and long living skate that occurs in the Atlantic, Mediterranean as far as Tunisia and Greece and the southwest Indian Ocean, though it is no longer common in any of these areas. The White Skate is one of the largest European skate, reaching 200cm in length, though it is usually found between 60-150cm. It has a long snout with a broad base and a narrow tip, leading into a large, broadly rhombic disc and the tail is often slightly shorter than the body. In the past it was known from a number of locations along the west coast of Ireland, but in recent years it has only been recorded from Tralee and Galway Bays. These are the only two known refuges for this species in the north eastern Atlantic and is now considered Critically Endangered in Ireland

White Skate

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