Heather Lally

Atlantic Technological University · Natural Resources and the Environment

Oligotrophic waters containing very few minerals of sandy plains” (code 3110) and “Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds” (code 3160) are two protected lake habitats under Annex I of the European Union Habitats Directive, despite this, their conservation condition is considered unfavourable in most European biogeographic regions. The available classif...

The environmental fate of microplastics (MPs) added to agricultural soils remains poorly understood, particularly regarding their mobility in soils. Here we investigate the potential for MP export from soil to surface waters and groundwater in two agricultural settings with a 20-year history of biosolid treatment. A third site where biosolids had n...

As plastic production continues to increase, we are seeing significant quantities of microplastics (MPs), a contaminant of emerging concern, being recorded worldwide. This research project has identified key challenges and recommendations that target MP pollution, highlighting immediate measures that could manage MP debris at known sources. This wi...

The ubiquitous nature of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems may have serious implications for aquatic biota. While microplastic research in freshwater ecosystems is increasing, very few studies have assessed the physical presence of microplastics among top predators. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), a top predator of aquatic ecosystems, is one of...

White-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) is a keystone species found in western European freshwater bodies, where it has suffered drastic declines due to pathogens, competition with non-indigenous crayfish species (NICS) and habitat deterioration. In Ireland, populations of (naturalised) A. pallipes have been considered healthy and abundan...

Freshwater lakes and pools contained within peatlands are unique habitats that support rare and specialised species. Despite this, these ecosystems have been overlooked in conservation and management practices. One of these habitats, ‘3160 Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds’, is protected under the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive with a conc...

Microplastics are a pervasive pollutant of aquatic ecosystems and are reported to interact with a wide range of aquatic biota. The complexities of natural food webs means that the transfer and accumulation of microplastics is difficult to assess, and only a handful of studies have attempted to quantify trophic transfer in freshwater biota. Bioaccum...

The rapid development and application of drone technology has included water sampling and collection of physiochemical data from lakes. Previous research has demonstrated the significant potential of drones to play a future pivotal role in the collection of such data from lakes that fulfil requirements of large-scale monitoring programmes. However,...

White-clawed Crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes surveys were carried out between June and September 2017 in all 15 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC)for which the species is listed as a qualifying interest. Crayfish were detected in 13 SACs; they were not detected in the two (Lough Bane and Lough Glass SAC and Lough Lene SAC) from which crayfish...

Rivers play an important role in the overall transport of microplastic pollution (1 μm to 5 mm), with fluvial dynamics expected to influence biotic interactions, particularly for fish. So far, there have been few assessments of microplastics in freshwater salmonids. The prevalence (i.e. percentage occurrence) and burden (i.e. abundance per fish) of...

Freshwater systems provide key pathways for microplastic (MP) pollution, and although existing studies have demonstrated the susceptibility of freshwater biota to ingestion, translocation, and trophic transfer, specific challenges pertaining to methodological standardization remain largely unresolved, particularly with respect to isolating, charact...

Advancements in drone technology have seen the development of drone-assisted water sampling payloads resulting in the ability of drones to retrieve water samples and physico-chemical data from aquatic ecosystems. The application of drones for water sampling provides the potential to fulfil many aspects of the biological and physico-chemical samplin...

The poster presents our research project aims, objectives and expected outcomes

Microplastic (MP) polymers, 0.1 µm - 5 mm in size, are ubiquitous within aquatic environments. Due to their small size there is a risk that they may infiltrate and transfer within aquatic food webs. Though a limited number of laboratory studies can facilitate our understanding of species susceptibility, the lack of field data from freshwater enviro...

Aquatic buffer zones (ABZs) are areas of the riparian zone managed to protect streams from the potential impacts of commercial conifer forests and associated forestry operations In Ireland. Previous research identified that the dominant vegetation communities in ABZs are wet grassland and scrub habitats and that the vegetation communities are broad...

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting nutrient in freshwater systems and when present in runoff from agricultural lands or urban centers may contribute to excessive periphyton growth. In this study, we examined the link between soil erosion and delivery of eroded soil to streams during flow events, and the impact of that freshly deposited soil on dissolved...

An ongoing research challenge is the detection of biological responses to elevated sediment and the identification of sediment-specific bioassessment metrics to evaluate these biological responses. Laboratory mesocosms and field observations in rivers in Ireland were used to evaluate the relationship between a range of biological and sediment metri...

Unrestricted cattle access to rivers and streams represent a potentially significant localised pressure on freshwater systems. However there is no consensus in the literature on the occurrence and extent of impact and limited research has examined the effects on aquatic biota in the humid temperate environment examined in the present study. Further...

The deliberate flooding of cutaway peatlands has resulted in the creation of 3700ha of new wetlands in the Irish Midlands. None of Ireland's cutaway wetlands have been designated as artificial water bodies for the purposes of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) (WFD). Nevertheless, ensuring that the created wetlands do not adversely affect d...

By 2030, 75,000 ha of raised bog owned by Ireland’s largest peat producer, Bord na Móna, are expected to be exhausted. In an effort to rehabilitate Irish cutaway peatlands to maximise their conservation value, large areas have been converted to wetlands using three alternative approaches: total peat removal (TPR), partial peat removal (PPR), and si...

By 2030, Ireland will be home to in excess of 80,000 hectares (ha) of cutaway peatlands. Since the early 1990s, lake creation has emerged as a novel post-harvesting land use option for redundant industrial peatlands. Half of all emerging cutaway peatlands in Ireland will now be flooded and revegetated for conservation and public amenity uses, in on...