Dr Howard is one of a number of specialists who have been involved in recording the flora and fauna of this remarkable site. The number of plant and animal species now protected within the fen stands at 350. Calliergon giganteum is found in 30 of the 40 botanical divisions of the country. Now Waterford is one of them. This and information on the 37 other mosses and liverworts recorded on Fenor by Dr Howard will be included in a bryophyte mapping scheme which is being co-ordinated by the British Bryological Society.
Bryophytes form a division of the plant kingdom and include liverworts, mosses and hornworts.
They are mainly small, flat, prostrate plants, without roots, they are abundant in wet, open bog and fen habitats in Ireland. The discovery of this moss on Fenor Bog indicates how important the site is for the protection of the county's biodiversity. Co. Waterford being given similar protection. A fen is a wetland with a permanently high water level. Its principal source of nutrients is from surface or ground water and the substrate is an alkaline to slightly acid peat soil.