Machair

Machair

"This article is about a geographic landform. For the TV series, see Machair (TV series)"The Gaelic word machair or machar refers to a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on the some of the north-west coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides. Two distinct types exist:
* A type of sand-dune pasture, subject to agricultural cultivation, which prevails in wet and windy conditions;
* The land between a beach and the area where sand encroaches on peat bogs further inland.

Geology

In both cases, a machair is a former beach, left higher in elevation than the current adjacent beach following a drop in sea level.

Machairs largely owe their fertility to the fact their sand has a high seashell content- sometimes as high as 90%. This sand is blown inland, acts to neutralize the acidity of the peatbogs and results in the fertility of the grassland.

Ecology

Machairs have received considerable ecological and conservational attention, chiefly because of their unique ecosystems. They can house rare carpet flowers, such as Irish Lady's Tresses, orchids and Yellow Rattle, [ [http://www.wildlifehebrides.com/environment/machair/ Machair Profile] ] along with a diverse array of bird species including the corn crake, twite, dunlin, redshank and ringed plover, as well as rare insects such as the northern colletes bee. Some machairs are threatened by erosion caused by rising sea levels as well as by recreational use of vicinity beaches.

References

* Angus, S. (1997). "The Outer Hebrides: the Shaping of the Islands". The White Horse Press. ISBN 1-874267-33-2

Endnotes


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  • Machair — in Berneray (Äußere Hebriden) Machair ist ein gälisches Wort und bezeichnet einen sehr fruchtbaren, küstennahen Bodenmischtyp, der in Schottland und Irland zu finden ist. Wesentliche Komponenten des Bodens sind ein hoher Anteil an mineralreichen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Machair — Le machair de Berneray, Hébrides extérieures Le mot gaélique machair ou machar désigne les bords de mer fertiles et de faible altitude que l on trouve en Écosse et en Irlande, et notamment dans les Hébrides extérieures …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Machair — Un machair en Berneray, Hebridas Exteriores …   Wikipedia Español

  • Machair (TV series) — Machair was a Scottish Gaelic television soap opera produced by Scottish Television Enterprises between August 1992 and September 1998. [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/uk soaps/Machair/|title=UK Soap Operas article on… …   Wikipedia

  • Machair (disambiguation) — Machair could refer to: *Machair, a Scottish Gaelic word referring to the fertile grassland near the shore, particularly prevalent in the Outer Hebrides *Machair (TV series), a Scottish Gaelic TV series which ran from 1992 to 1996 …   Wikipedia

  • machair — noun A type of calcerous sandy terrain formed mostly from seashells, found by the coast in areas of Scotland and Ireland …   Wiktionary

  • machair — mækssÉ™(r) n. side of a sand dune protected from the wind and covered in grass (especially pertaining to the coasts of the Hebridean islands of north west Scotland) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • machair — [ makə, maxə] noun (in Scotland) low lying land formed near the coast from sand and shell fragments deposited by the wind. Origin C17: from Sc. Gaelic …   English new terms dictionary

  • machair — mach·air …   English syllables

  • machair — …   Useful english dictionary

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