This entry marks the beginning of a series documenting freshwater invertebrates as part of a broader initiative in biological recording across various sites in Northern Ireland. Beyond serving as a blog post, these journals will provide an ongoing log of species observations and their specific locations.
The project is kindly funded through Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR) with a permit issued through the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) for specific access to sample and photograph species in ASSI’s – Areas of Special Scientific Interest.
An initial session was carried out at Brackagh Moss reserve on designated ponds at the below locations:
"As this was originally a raised bog, over 300 years of turf cutting, have left this area a maze of pools, drainage channels and peat ramparts. Most of the reddish acid bog peat was removed which left an older, black, base-rich fen peat underneath. This variety in soils has resulted in an extremely varied range of flora available at this site." - NIEA
Standard pond dipping techniques were used with samples measured in specialist measuring tanks, before being transported to a tank for identification photography, and then safely returned to the original pool. This will be the process for the future surveys on this project.
Photography tank setup with overhead flashgun, natural background and substrate