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Marine Biodiversity in Ireland; historical collections and current management

of biodiversity data
Irelands marine territory is over ten times the land area at 850,000 km2, and along with its
location beside the largely unpolluted Atlantic Ocean, it has a very healthy marine biodiversity
and environment (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). There have been over 7,300 species recorded
in Irish water ranging from microscopic organisms to some of the largest marine mammals on
the planet (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). 353 of these species are sponges, 91 are anemones
and 141 are sea slugs (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). The main groups that make up Irelands
marine biodiversity are: Micro-organisms, plankton, benthos, fish, mammals, seabirds
(Inshore-ireland.com, 2016).

Micro-organisms consist of mainly bacteria with viruses, fungi and yeast making up small
numbers (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). They are some of the smallest organisms on the face
of the earth and were some of the first on earth, with fossils dating back over 3.6 billion years
ago (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). Marine micro-organisms main roles are to break down
decaying plant and animal matter to release nutrients for other species to live off (Inshore-
ireland.com, 2016).

Plankton can be broke up into 2 sub sections, phytoplankton and zooplankton. Phytoplankton
are miniscule one celled autotrophic organisms. They make their food by photosynthesis so
are found in the photic zone all around Ireland. Zooplankton are also extremely small but are
considerably larger that phytoplankton. They are small crustaceans that feed on
phytoplankton. They can also be found in the deep ocean as they are t dependant on light
and can feed on small bits of decaying plant/animal matter (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016).
Zooplankton are an essential part of the diet of many deep sea organisms, such as the cold
water corals found off the Irish coast, that wouldnt survive without them venturing down to
the benthos, they also support a large range of fish species (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016).
In the north Atlantic there are over 1100 species, 331 of these have been recorded in Irish
waters (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). These range from tiny fish like gobys which can be just
a couple of centimetres long to basking sharks which can reach over 10m in length.
There have been 32 species sighted in the Atlantic Ocean, 24 of these have been recorded in
Irish waters (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). Some of these just pass through Irish waters
seasonally and some are here all year round. The most common of the resident marine
mammals would be harbour seals, common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and log finned pilot
whales (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). Fin whales and humpback whales are now regularly
sighted in the southwest of Ireland during the warmer months of the year (Inshore-
ireland.com, 2016).
There are 26 species of sea birds nesting on the Irish coast, habitats include beaches, dunes,
mud flats offshore islands and rocky cliffs (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016). These areas are
important feeding grounds for the birds. The offshore islands and tall cliffs, which are all
around the Irish coast, support many internationally important breeding colonies of gulls,
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cormorants, storm petrels and gannets, and burrowing species like the Manx shearwater and
puffins (Inshore-ireland.com, 2016).

References
Inshore-ireland.com. (2016). Why is marine biodiversity important? | Inshore Ireland. [Online]
Available at: http://www.inshore-ireland.com/News/why-is-marine-biodiversity-important.html
[Accessed 1 Dec. 2016].