D. Ó Huallacháin

• TEAGASC - The Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Ecologically functioning soils are increasingly viewed as a key component of sustainable agriculture, a means of sequestering carbon and a major contributor to farmland biodiversity. It is generally considered that intensively managed agricultural systems are associated with reduced soil health and require high chemical inputs to maintain soil nutr...

Conservation science and planning, by measuring proxies of biodiversity and ecosystem services provision, aim to identify priority areas for nature conservation and ecosystem services. In Ireland, fine-scale data on ecosystems functioning and biodiversity are limited, making it challenging to map conservation value (CV) and natural capital value (N...

Headwater streams can constitute up to 80% of river channel length and are vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures due to their high connectivity to adjacent land, large relative catchment size and low dilution capacity. In these environments, unrestricted cattle access is a potentially significant cause of water quality deterioration, resulting from...

Conserving natural resources and halting biodiversity loss are key environmental objectives of the European Union. High Nature Value farmland and forest (HNVFF) areas are associated with high biodiversity and other public goods. Currently, there are few dedicated HNV farmland and no HNV forest quality and quantity monitoring systems implemented in...

High Nature Value (HNV) forests contribute to maintaining European biodiversity and public good supply. This study aimed to a) develop an objective and quantitative Nature Value (NV) index for the identification of HNV forests in the Republic of Ireland; and b) apply and validate the index using available data from the Irish National Forest Invento...

Intermittent sand filters (ISFs) are widely used in rural areas to treat domestic and dilute agricultural wastewater due to their simplicity, efficacy and relative low cost. However, filter clogging reduces their operational lifetime and sustainability. To reduce the potential of filter clogging, this study examined pre-treatment of dairy wastewate...

Shallow subsurface pathways dominate dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) losses in grassland soils that are: poorly drained, shallow, or have a perched water table in wetter months causing saturation‐excess runoff. Saturated conditions can lead to anoxia, which can accelerate phosphorus (P) loss. Two scales of investigation were utilized in this st...

Landscape features, such as hedgerows, can play a role in enhancing terrestrial carbon (C) sinks, especially in North-western Europe, where they form a large part of the agricultural landscape. To date, there are few studies relating aerial imagery to ground-truthed biomass measurements and relating changes in biomass to hedgerow management. This s...

Unrestricted cattle access can have negative impacts on aquatic systems, including increases in stream water turbidity and suspended sediment levels. Many agri-environmental policies require the exclusion of livestock from waterbodies; however, data that quantify these impacts are scarce. This study used sensors measuring turbidity, a proxy for sus...

Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) loss from agricultural soils can negatively affect water quality. Shallow subsurface pathways can dominate P losses in grassland soils, especially in wetter months when waterlogging is common. This study investigated the processes controlling intra- and inter-event and seasonal DRP losses from poorly drained perm...

Small streams dominate the hydrological network within Europe. In many regions, these waterbodies drain large areas of agricultural land and are vulnerable to pressures linked to livestock management, which can include direct livestock access. This study investigated the impacts of cattle access to watercourses on the contamination of streambed sed...

Remaining semi-natural habitats are important refuges for farmland biodiversity, and field margins are one such habitat. Field margins consist of strips of herbaceous vegetation that are located between field boundary features such as hedgerows and the main grassland or arable field. However, little is known about their extent or ecological quality...

Agri-environment schemes (AESs) have been developed by governments to improve biodiversity, reduce pollution from farming and encourage the provision of agriculture’s non-market benefits. Despite the substantial amount of money spent on designing, implementing and monitoring AESs, their environmental effectiveness is ambiguous. The objective of thi...

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a cost-effective and sustainable treatment technology that may be used on farms to treat dairy wastewater (DWW). However, CWs require a large area for optimal treatment and have poor long-term phosphorus removal. To overcome these limitations, this study uses a novel, pilot-scale coagulation-sedimentation process prio...

An intermittent sand filter (ISF) is a simple and cost-effective treatment method that may be adopted on farms to treat dairy wastewater (DWW). However, the use of ISFs has been limited due to the large area required for treatment, and the risk of filter clogging and phosphorus (P) breakthrough, which decrease the operational lifetime. To overcome...

Stone walls are ubiquitous field boundaries used to restrict livestock movement or to separate property. Bryophytes and lichens are often the dominant vegetation in dry stone walls and are strongly affected by local microhabitat characteristics. Bryophytes and lichens related metrics can be used to define habitat quality of stone walls. The current...

Until recent decades, most monitoring of surface waters relied exclusively on samples analysed in the laboratory for ecologically and management-relevant parameters. It is now possible, however, to automatically monitor many parameters using in-situ sensors and to provide remote web-based access to these data. Such data are typically provided at fr...

Phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural soils can negatively affect water quality. Models and management to decrease losses increasingly focus on P that is available and transported from areas in the landscape that are regularly saturated – and periodically anaerobic. Current models use soil tests conducted in oxic conditions, which do not represent...

In soils with a fragipan or poor permeability, water may remain in a soil profile long enough to make it anoxic and reductive. The reductive dissolution of iron (Fe)‐ and manganese (Mn)‐oxides can release associated phosphorus (P). Therefore, the dissolved P would be vulnerable to subsurface flow and could contaminate nearby streams. It was hypothe...

This study presents a novel landscape classification map of the Republic of Ireland and is the first to identify broad landscape classes by incorporating physiographic and land cover data. The landscape classification responds to commitments to identify and classify the Irish landscape as a signatory to the European Landscape Convention. The method...

Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) have long been implemented across Europe to incentivise farmers to alter their management practices to improve biodiversity and water, air and soil quality. However, the cost-effectiveness of traditional action-based schemes has been questioned, and Result-Based Payment (RBP) schemes have been recommended as an altern...

Following decades of riparian buffer zone (RBZ) studies there remains a need to look across individual site data for collective evidence on the site-specific pollution mitigation and river water quality. We explored primary study evidence on runoff, sediment, P, N, coliforms and pesticides using complimentary styles of metadata interpretation. A qu...

Agri-environment schemes (AESs) have been developed by governments to improve biodiversity, reduce pollution from farming and encourage the provision of agriculture's non-market benefits. Despite the substantial amount of money spent on designing, implementing and monitoring AESs, their environmental effectiveness is ambiguous. The objective of thi...

This data provides a landscape classification map of the Republic of Ireland. The dataset was generated by applying a series of clustering iterations to determine an objective multivariate classification of physiographic landscape units and land cover. The classification results determined nine statistically significant landscape classes and the de...

The effective conservation of high nature value farmland (HNV) will be crucial for the conservation of European and Irish biodiversity, and to meet the growing demand for a wide range of private and public goods and services from farmland. Here, we describe the evolution of policy and management of HNV farmland in the Republic of Ireland over the l...

Riparian zones of rivers are transitional environments between land and water ecosystems with distinct hydrological gradients, soils and habitats strongly related to their functioning. When these functions are intact, they integrate multi-directional processes across the land-river channel (e.g. canopy shade effects on the stream, flood inundation...

1. While the value of linear farm habitats for the protection and enhancement of farmland biodiversity in general is known, less is understood about their contribution to Diptera, especially those with different ecological requirements. In this study, we examined the impact of a range of linear farm habitats in agricultural grassland on Syrphidae a...

Influencing farmers to make positive contributions to the environment is one of the goals of agri-environment schemes (AESs). Understanding the drivers of farmer behaviour and the choices they make with regards to AESs is important as this aids policy makers in creating schemes that have a wider scope and are more likely to achieve environmental go...

Concerns over the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland have prompted the development of agri-environment policy measures aimed at reducing farming pressure and maintaining semi-natural habitats in farmed landscapes. However, further knowledge is needed to guarantee successful agri-environment measures implementation. The current...

The deterioration of water quality in Ireland over the past thirty years and the nutrient losses from agriculture are of particular concern to policy makers. Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are designed to improve the environment and water quality. One of the more common AES measures is the exclusion of cattle from watercourses. Cattle exclusion p...

Biodiversity and associated ecosystem services have declined globally with agricultural intensification identified as a major driver of this loss. The most recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy resulted in the introduction of three mandatory ‘Greening’ measures aimed at improving the environmental performance of EU agricultural legislatio...

Recent concern regarding the negative environmental impacts of molluscicides has led to the investigation of safer alternatives for pestiferous slug control. One potential biocontrol agent is Tetanocera elata (Diptera:Sciomyzidae), the larval stage of which feeds on slugs. The pestiferous slug Deroceras reticulatum was exposed to neonate T. elata l...

The intensification of farming practices, along with the loss and fragmentation of semi‐natural habitats within agricultural areas, has contributed significantly to insect decline worldwide including flower‐visiting aculeate Hymenoptera. In this study aculeate Hymenoptera were collected using bi‐directional Malaise traps placed along farmland linea...

High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) is managed farmland that has high biodiversity and often supports species of conservation concern. Assessing the distribution and extent of such farmlands is useful for appropriate targeting of conservation measures and supporting associated rural communities. The conservation of species and habitats within HNVf is...

Freshwaters worldwide are affected by multiple stressors. Timing of inputs and pathways of delivery can influence the impact stressors have on freshwater communities. In particular, effects of point versus diffuse nutrient inputs on stream macroinvertebrates are poorly understood. Point-source inputs tend to pose a chronic problem, whereas diffuse...

The hyporheic zone is an important ecotone occupying the interface between surface and ground water bodies, providing a range of important ecosystem services such as biochemical cycling, temperature regulation and downstream flood attenuation. Despite its importance in freshwater ecosystems in terms of services provided, the hyporheic zone has ofte...

Agricultural land, and arable farming in particular, is commonly associated with increased soil erosion risk. Such systems are most vulnerable during low groundcover periods but downstream delivery is ultimately controlled by connectivity. This study provides a catchment‐scale sediment budget integrating three discrete but complementary investigati...

While the larval stage of Tetanocera elata (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) is a known parasitoid and predator of pestiferous slugs, its biology and predatory behavior as well as its interaction with slug parasitic nematodes requires further investigation. In this study, survival of larvae fed from the neonate stage on Deroceras reticulatum Müller (a previou...

Measures that prevent cattle access to watercourses are commonly implemented through agri-environment schemes, in an effort to address the objectives of the Water Framework Directive. Despite the widespread implementation, few studies have assessed the impact of cattle access to streams on aquatic macroinvertebrates. This study assessed the local-s...

The degradation of freshwater resources and loss of freshwater biodiversity by anthropogenic activities, including agriculture, are of major global concern. Together with diffuse pollutants, point sources, such as where cattle have direct access to riparian margins and watercourses, can potentially present significant environmental challenges. Thes...

Buffer strips between land and waters are widely applied measures in diffuse pollution management, with desired outcomes across other factors. There remains a need for evidence of pollution mitigation and wider habitat and societal benefits across scales. This paper synthesizes a collection of 16 new primary studies and review papers to provide the...

Habitat diversity is fundamental to the preservation of biodiversity and to the delivery of ecosystem services in farmed landscapes. Acknowledging farms according to habitat composition and configuration is key to ensuring the sustainability of farms; facilitating production goals, but also supporting the protection of biodiversity and associated e...

Biodiversity has undergone significant declines in agricultural ecosystems throughout Europe due to changes in farming practices. Conservation of natural resources, including biodiversity, and halting the degradation of habitats in these systems are key environmental objectives of the European Union. The EU has allocated significant resources to th...

Pestiferous slugs are a cause of food loss globally. The recent EU banning of chemical methiocarb slug pellets, due to their toxic effects on non-target organisms and concerns regarding water contamination from slug pellets containing metaldehyde, has resulted in increased interest in novel biocontrol agents of pestiferous slugs. While the larval s...

Cattle access to streams has been linked globally with degradation of stream water quality, driven largely by bank erosion and resultant instream, fine sediment deposition. The majority of evidence on such effects is however based in arid and semiarid regions of the United States and Australia, with few studies relating to cool temperate climates s...

Management strategies to reduce soil loss and sediment delivery from agricultural land requires an empirical understanding of sediment sources. Sediment fingerprinting is a technique to apportion sources to a downstream sediment sample which, when applied at high spatial and temporal resolutions, can offer insights into catchment sediment dynamics....

Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) are a key policy mechanism for encouraging farmers to adopt sustainable measures and compensate them for the costs incurred (Evans & Green 2007). Some of these schemes aim to address the decline of biodiversity in agri-ecosystems. However, results on the effectiveness of many AES on conserving biodiversity and ecosyst...

Multiple stressors affect stream ecosystems worldwide and their interactions are of particular concern, with gaps existing in understanding stressor impacts on stream communities. Addressing these knowledge gaps will aid in targeting and designing of appropriate mitigation measures. In this study, the agricultural stressors fine sediment (ambient,...

Ireland has a diverse physical landscape of upland and lowland inland waters represented by 13,200 km of river and 12,000 lakes framed by an estimated 3171 km of coastline providing a range of freshwater ecosystem services. The quality and quantity of water flowing through Ireland’s inland and coastal waters are determined by the complex interactio...

The functional potential of soil ecosystems can be predicted from the activity and abundance of the microbial community in relation to key soil properties. When describing microbial community dynamics, soil physicochemical properties have traditionally been used. The extent of correlations between properties, however, differs between studies, espec...

Severe declines in biodiversity have been well documented for many taxonomic groups due to intensification of agricultural practices. Establishment and appropriate management of arable field margins can improve the diversity and abundance of invertebrate groups; however, there is much less research on field margins within grassland systems. Three g...

Abstract High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) plays an important role in delivering biodiversity and has the capacity to deliver many important environmental public goods such as clean air, clean water, climate regulation and aesthetic landscapes. A lack of information on what exactly characterises a HNV farm is a major impediment to the application o...

The EU Water Framework Directive aims to ensure restoration of Europe’s water bodies to “good ecological status” by 2027. Many Member States will struggle to meet this target, with around half of EU river catchments currently reporting below standard water quality. Diffuse pollution from agriculture represents a major pressure, affecting over 90% o...

Semi-natural grassland habitats have declined significantly throughout Europe. To halt the decline, grassland conservation measures have been included in most European agri-environment schemes. This is the first study to compare the botanical composition of grassland habitats managed under the Irish Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS). Sixty fie...

High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is typically characterised by low-intensity farming associated with high biodiversity and species of conservation concern. Mapping the occurrence and distribution of such farmland are useful for appropriate targeting of conservation measures and supporting associated rural communities. We mapped the likely distribut...

Identifying critical source areas (CSAs) of diffuse pollution in agricultural catchments requires the accurate identification of hydrologically sensitive areas (HSAs) at highest propensity for generating surface runoff and transporting pollutants. A new GIS-based HSA Index is presented that improves the identification of HSAs at the sub-field scale...

Within agricultural watersheds suspended sediment-discharge hysteresis during storm events is commonly used to indicate dominant sediment sources and pathways. However, availability of high-resolution data, qualitative metrics, longevity of records and simultaneous multi-watershed analyses has limited the efficacy of hysteresis as a sediment manage...

The challenges of achieving both food security and environmental sustainability have resulted in a confluence of demands on land within the European Union (EU): we expect our land to provide food, fiber and fuel, to purify water, to sequester carbon, and provide a home to biodiversity as well as external nutrients in the form of waste from humans a...

The loss of global biological diversity continues despite ongoing conservation efforts. Agriculture is the major terrestrial land use in Europe and any conservation efforts to protect biological diversity must address sustainable use of these food production systems. Using Ireland, within the European Union policy framework, as an example, the decl...

Soil erosion and suspended sediment (SS) pose risks to chemical and ecological water quality. Agricultural activities may accelerate erosional fluxes from bare, poached or compacted soils, and enhance connectivity through modified channels and artificial drainage networks. Storm-event fluxes dominate SS transport in agricultural catchments; therefo...

Elucidation of when the loss of pollutants, below the rooting zone in agricultural landscapes, affects water quality is important when assessing the efficacy of mitigation measures. Investigation of this inherent time lag (tT) is divided into unsaturated (tu) and saturated (ts) components. The duration of these components relative to each other dif...

Purpose Modification of sediment properties used in fingerprinting applications occurs along transport pathways as a result of particle size and organic matter enrichment/depletion, and geochemical transformations. Statistical approaches have been widely used to correct for enrichment and depletion, but detection of, and the un-mixing errors and un...

Soil erosion and suspended sediment (SS) pose risks to chemical and ecological water quality. Agricultural activities may accelerate erosional fluxes from bare, poached or compacted soils, and enhance connectivity through modified channels and artificial drainage networks. Storm-event fluxes dominate SS transport in agricultural catchments; therefo...

The appropriate management of natural riparian zones can provide numerous ecosystem services within an agricultural landscape, including the enhancement of regional biodiversity. Management of riparian zones has featured in Irish agri-environment schemes. We investigated the biodiversity of riparian field margins which had been fenced to provide wa...

Sustainable food production has re-emerged at the top of the global policy agenda, driven by two challenges: (1) the challenge to produce enough food to feed a growing world population and (2) the challenge to make more efficient and prudent use of the world's natural resources. These challenges have led to a societal expectation that the agricultu...

Recent decades have seen an increase in the number of woodpigeon frequenting cities and urban areas. Relatively few studies have assessed the nest site location, predation and breeding success rate of urban woodpigeons, and no such study exists in Ireland. The current study found that nest site location had a significant impact on the nest predatio...

Field margins within intensively managed ecosystems are often seen as a last refuge for biodiversity, and are typically targeted with measures within many agri‐environment schemes. Grassland accounts for 81 million ha of land within the EU ; however, the ecology of field margins associated with permanent grassland has not been well studied. This st...

Capsule The Woodpigeon Columba palumbus has a wide and varied diet, dominated by vegetable matter. This study found no significant difference in the diet of male and female birds in North-East Ireland; however, diet differed significantly between the seasons. In summer and autumn, the grains of cereal crops constituted the largest proportion of the...

Since its inception in 1994, there has been strong demand for evidence of the environmental effectiveness of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), which has paid farmers in the Republic of Ireland over €3 billion up to 2010. A variety of research projects have been undertaken that investigate the environmental effects of REPS through an e...

Incidental losses of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) to a surface waterbody originate from direct losses during land application of fertilizer, or where a rainfall event occurs immediately thereafter. Another source is the soil. One way of immobilising DRP in runoff before discharge to a surface waterbody, is to amend soil within the edge of fi...

1. Increased intensification in agricultural grasslands has led to well-documented declines in the associated flora. Manipulation of field margins for biodiversity enhancement in arable systems has been extensively investigated. However, there is a paucity of corresponding long-term research within intensively managed grasslands. 2. We investigated...

Many field and laboratory studies have attempted to explain the inhibitory effect of rotting barley on algae. Early field studies lacked controls and replication and results depended on visual observations. Such studies offer information on barley bale field construction and application rates. In the laboratory, discrepancies in the barley variety...

Sexual dimorphism is slight in Woodpigeons Columba palumbus. Although it is generally believed that males are somewhat larger than females, there is considerable overlap between the sexes. Recent studies have highlighted the use of discriminant function analysis in determining the sex of sexually monomorphic birds such as seabirds. This study exami...