The little that survives of Ireland’s temperate rainforest is almost all in a very poor state ecologically. Highly fragmented by roads, human habitation, and areas devoted to agriculture, non-native conifer plantations or industry, the small semi-natural fragments that remain are highly vulnerable to - and are mostly presently in - further decline.
A major threat is that of severe overgrazing by a variety of herbivores, almost all non-native species such as Sika Deer, Feral Goats, and Sheep. Overgrazing strips away almost all of the ground flora, and prevents any natural regeneration of the woodland trees by killing seedlings, thereby causing the slow death of woodlands as older trees age and die without a younger generation to replace them.
In addition, by removing most of the competition for light in the form of native vegetation, overgrazing greatly facilitates the spread of such invasive non-native plant species as Rhododendron ponticum, which, given time, will destroy a native woodland ecosystem.
The dense monocultures that are created when Rhododendron takes hold block almost any light from reaching the woodland floor, preventing the growth of practically all native plants other than mosses and liverworts. Almost nothing will eat the Rhododendron leaves, as they naturally contain a toxin to discourage feeding animals, whether insects or vertebrates.
A single mature Rhododendron bush can put out a rain of several million seeds every year, and every seed that germinates and grows into another plant can be producing seed itself within little more than a decade. The result is that, if not dealt with at an early stage, large areas can quickly become choked with the plant. At this point its eradication becomes extremely difficult, labour intensive, and costly.
Sadly, almost all remaining pockets of native woodland in Ireland are affected – often acutely so – by a combination of these problems.
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