CONIFEROUS PLANTATION WOODLAND

Coniferous plantation woodland: planted forests with a uniform age structure. Coniferous trees cover more than 90% of the ground, mainly spruce with smaller areas of pine or larch.
Habitat examples: Click on an image to enlarge.
     
Coniferous plantation woodland: distribution in Northern Ireland.
Coniferous plantation woodland covers 4.6% of NI (62,149 ha) (Table below). The uplands have most forest cover (11.3%) compared with the lowlands (1.3%). This habitat is less common in the Wider Countryside (2.3%) and Slieve Gullion (1.3%) study areas.
Coniferous plantation woodland: predicted distribution map (1998).
Coniferous plantation woodland: net change 1991 - 1998.
The main net change was an increase of 13% (5,695 ha) in the uplands, with a notable significant increase in the Sperrins AONB of 55% (2,762 ha).
Coniferous plantation woodland: summary of losses and gains 1991 - 1998.

Coniferous plantation woodland: main losses and gains 1991 - 1998:
Coniferous plantation woodland gains were largely new areas of forest planted over Fen meadow, upland heath, bog habitats and agricultural grassland habitats. Habitats in the losses and gains table below are linked to their descriptors and NI data. Full details of all losses and gains are given in the technical report.
 
Losses
(1991 - 98)		 Habitats Gains
(1991 - 98)
ha  % ha  %
51 <1   4 <1  
134 <1       Scrub - dense 0    
172 <1 *     Mixed plantation woodland 0    
1 <1       Species-rich wet grassland 366 2  
16 <1       Fen meadow 1105 18 *
1 <1       Bent/fescue grassland 76 <1 *
50 <1       Tall herb/ruderal 12 <1  
0         Gorse heath - scattered 151 4  
0         Wet heath mosaic 1188 4  
9 <1       Dry bog 503 1  
0         Wet heath 401 1  
0         Wet bog 1706 3  
4 <1       Poor fen 610 2  
10 <1 *     Perennial ryegrass 250 <1  
0         Mixed species grassland 74 <1  
31 <1       Other agricultural grassland 1403 <1 *
127 <1       Buildings/curtilage nc    
Note : % = percentage of 1991 habitat area.
           * = indicates significant transition (p = 0.05).
          nc = not calculated.
 
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