Lough Lark ASSI

Lough Lark is a shallow dystrophic lake which lies in a peaty depression at an elevation of 310-320m and drains into the head water of the Feighatan Burn. The Lough is surrounded by a thin band of blanket bog, but the majority of the immediate catchment is dominated by conifer forest.

Lough Lark is situated in the narrow valley between the Corratary Hill and Mullaghbane, both of which form part of the Sperrin mountain range. It is of special scientific interest for a population of Tall Bog-sedge Carex magellanica, which is a rare species in Northern Ireland.

The Tall Bog-sedge has very specialist habitat requirements and is associated with the open sward of poor acid fens which occurs on the margins of Blanket Bog lakes. At Lough Lark the fen on the western margin of the lough is flushed by water moving through the surface sudstrate which provides the specialist habitat conditions that this species requires.