Éanna Ní Lamhna launches first ever Irish book on aquatic plants
- Over 400 species featured in Aquatic Plants in Ireland:A Photographic Guide
- Aquatic environments vulnerable to threats posed by biodiversity loss, climate change and invasive species spread
Friday, June 21st, 2024: Biologist and environmentalist Éanna Ní Lamhna has launched the first ever Irish book on aquatic plants - featuring 401 different river, lake, and pond plant species.
The 576-page Aquatic Plants in Ireland:A Photographic Guide identifies flora in freshwater habitats across the country - using concise text, and more than 1,200 full colour photographs and diagrams.
The book is published by Inland Fisheries Ireland(IFI), and co-authored by researchers at the State agency responsible for fish and their habitats.
Dr Cathal Gallagher, Deputy CEO of Inland Fisheries Ireland(IFI), Éanna Ní Lamhna, biologist and environmentalist, and Dr Matthew Jebb, Director of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland.
Speaking about the publication at its launch at the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Ms Ní Lamhna said: “This ground-breaking tome is a pioneering resource that I hope will reach a vast audience, at home and abroad.
“It’s also a useful tool for children and students. They can now access a bespoke Irish textbook that comprehensively details the extensive flora that come to life in their nearby watercourses - especially in summer.
“This Irish aquatic plant encyclopaedia is unique. And in it the diversity of our lakes, reservoirs, ponds, canals, rivers, streams, ditches, bog pools, and wetlands, are more than matched by the diverse plant species that call these places home.”
The encyclopedic book, Aquatic Plants of Ireland-A Photographic Guide, can be ordered currently from the Inland Fisheries Ireland website.
Aquatic environments are particularly vulnerable to threats posed by biodiversity loss, climate change, and the spread of invasive species.
Aquatic Plants in Ireland:A Photographic Guide includes a number of invasive alien plant species that are rapidly expanding their range in, and along, Ireland’s watercourses - and having serious adverse effects on native habitats and biodiversity.
Dr Matthew Jebb Director of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland added: “This new book, at last, fills a genuine gap in the literature.
“It allows the specialist and non-specialist to identify practically every aquatic plant species that grows in, or alongside, Ireland’s freshwater habitats.”
Dr Cathal Callagher Deputy CEO IFI, Prof Tom Collins Chair IFI, Éanna Ní Lamhna biologist and environmentalist, Prof Joe Caffrey Invas Biosecurity, and Dr Matthew Jebb Director National Botanic Gardens
The guide was funded by IFI, with support from INVAS Biosecurity Ltd, and compiled by three experienced Irish field ecologists–Prof Joe Caffrey, Dr Ronan Matson, and Dr Rossa Ó’Briain of IFI.
The broad ecology of plant species is summarised - and maps also illustrate their national distribution.
The full-colour publication costs €40 for the softback edition, and €70 for the hardback version.
Aquatic Plants in Ireland:A Photographic Guide can be currently purchased online.
Dr Cathal Callagher Deputy CEO IFI, Dr Rossa Ó'Briain IFI, Dr Ronan Matson IFI, Éanna Ní Lamhna biologist and environmentalist, Prof Joe Caffrey Invas Biosecurity, and Dr Matthew Jebb Director National Botanic Gardens.
