Preliminary notes on three turloughs (temporary ponds overlying karst) in County Limerick, with comments on their vegetation and water beetle fauna

Abstract

Turloughs are temporary ponds on karstic limestone, filled from groundwater after rain and draining away again underground. The periodicity of inundation varies, providing an added stress to fauna and flora. Most studied turloughs are in Counties Galway, Mayo and Clare. This paper describes characteristic plants of three County Limerick turloughs and discusses a partial list of water beetles collected from one of them, Lough Selleher.