UK Environmental Change Network - terrestrial sites. Database documentation

This document provides detailed information about the structure of the UK Environmental Change Network database

Evidence for increases in vegetation species richness across UK Environmental Change Network sites linked to changes in air pollution and weather patterns

We analysed trends in vegetation monitored at regular intervals over the past two decades (1993–2012)at the twelve terrestrial Environmental Change Network (ECN) sites. We sought to determine the extent to which flora had changed and link any such changes to potential environmental drivers. We observed significant increases in species richness, both at a whole network level, and when data were analysed within Broad Habitat groupings representing the open uplands, open lowlands and woodlands. We also found comparable increases in an indicator of vegetation response to soil pH, Ellenberg R. Species characteristic of less acid soils tended to show more consistent increases in frequency across sites relative to species with a known tolerance for strongly acidic soils. These changes are, therefore, broadly consistent with a response to increases in soil solution pH observed for the majority of ECN sites that, in turn, are likely to be driven by large reductions in acid deposition in recent decades. Increases in species richness in certain habitat groupings could also be linked to increased soil moisture availability in drier lowland sites that are likely to have been influenced by a trend towards wetter summers in recent years, and possibly also to a reduction in soil nitrogen availability in some upland locations. Changes in site management are also likely to have influenced trends at certain sites, particularly with respect to agricultural practices. Our results are therefore indicative of wide-scale responses to major regional-scale changes in air pollution and recent weather patterns, modified by local management effects. The relative consistency of management of ECN sites over time is atypical of much of the wider countryside and it is therefore not appropriate to scale up these observations to infer national scale trends. Nevertheless the results provide an important insight into processes that may be operating nationally. It will now be necessary to test for the ubiquity of these changes using appropriate broader spatial scale survey data

Trends and variability in weather and atmospheric deposition at UK Environmental Change Network sites (1993–2012)

We characterised temporal trends and variability in key indicators of climate and atmospheric deposition chemistry at the twelve terrestrial UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) sites over the first two decades of ECN monitoring (1993–2012) using various statistical approaches. Mean air temperatures for the monitoring period were approximately 0.7 °C higher than those modelled for 1961–1990, but there was little evidence for significant change in air temperature over either the full monthly records or within individual seasons. Some upland ECN sites, however, warmed significantly over the first decade before cooling in the second. Summers at most sites became progressively wetter, and extremes in daily rainfall increased in magnitude. Average wind speeds in winter and spring declined at the majority of sites. Directional trends in summer precipitation could be linked to an atypically prolonged negative deviation in the summer North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index. Several aspects of air quality improved markedly. Concentrations and fluxes of sulphate in precipitation declined significantly and substantially across the network, particularly during the earlier years and at the most polluted sites in the south and east. Precipitation concentrations of nitrate and ammonium, and atmospheric concentrations of nitrogen dioxide also decreased at most sites. There was less evidence for reductions in the loads of wet deposited nitrogen species, while trends in atmospheric ammonia concentration varied in direction and strength between sites. Reductions in acid deposition are likely to account for widespread gradual increases in the pH of soil water at ECN sites, representing partial recovery from acidification. Overall, therefore, ECN sites have experienced marked changes in atmospheric chemistry and weather regimes over the last two decades that might be expected to have exerted detectable effects on ecosystem structure and function. While the downward trend in acid deposition is unlikely to be reversed, it is too early to conclude whether the trend towards wetter summers simply represents a phase in a multi-decadal cycle, or is indicative of a more directional shift in climate. Conversely, the first two decades of ECN now provide a relatively stable long-term baseline with respect to air temperature, against which effects of anticipated future warming on these ecosystems should be able to be assessed robustly

Monitoring of acidifying and eutrophying deposition and ecological parameters at seven potentially vulnerable Natura 2000 sites in England and Wales. Sixth report to the power station and refinery operators. Final report

Operators of power stations and refineries in England and Wales who have “opted in” to the Large Plant Combustion Directive (LCPD) are required by the UK Environment Agency to undertake “a monitoring programme to assess changes in acidification and eutrophication deposition and ecological effects at appropriate Natura 2000 sites”, as part of the operating permit improvement conditions for plant. A formal response outlining this monitoring programme was submitted to, and accepted by, the Environment Agency in March 2008. The NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology were awarded a four year contract to implement the monitoring in 2011. The monitoring programme is based on protocols for ecological and deposition monitoring at Natura 2000 sites approved by the Environment Agency in September 2010. Following discussions between the installation operators, the Environment Agency, Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), seven Natura 2000 sites were selected for inclusion in the monitoring programme, including at least one site relevant to each of the 13 participating installations. As sulphur deposition remains the dominant issue associated with power station and refinery emissions, sites were selected on the basis of the installation’s modelled percentage contribution to the minimum site-relevant critical load for sulphur (CLmaxS), plus the percentage contribution to total sulphur deposition and total acid deposition, while the absolute level of sulphur deposition arising from the installation was also taken into account. Monitoring focuses on three components relating to the conservation objectives of the selected sites: 1. Prevailing levels of acidifying deposition and any changes in acidification deposition over the period of monitoring. 2. Prevailing levels of eutrophying deposition and any changes in eutrophication deposition over the period of monitoring. 3. Prevailing ecological condition and any changes in the ecological condition over the period of monitoring. The monitoring programme provides supplementary monitoring information to complement a previous modelling assessment review conducted by the Environment Agency in relation to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permitting for UK refineries and coal-fired power stations. This report is the sixth data report to the power station and refinery operators and provides an update on chemistry data collected up to the end of 2014, thus covering the first three full calendar years of monitoring, and provides details of monthly measurements of wet deposition chemistry, gaseous concentrations and soil solution chemistry collated over 2014 particularly. Two dry deposition models that combine meteorological observations with gaseous concentration measurements have been used to produce monthly estimates of dry deposition. Monthly estimates of wet, dry and total deposition of oxidised sulphur, oxidised nitrogen, reduced nitrogen and acid chloride are provided for the seven sites, together with annual estimates of total deposition, (that also include estimates for nitric acid, and aerosol sulphate (SO4), nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4) dry deposition) for the three years

The United Kingdom Environmental Change Network Annual Data Digest 2008. Part 1 - Terrestrial sites

This digest is one of a series of annual data summaries produced by the Environmental Change Network (ECN), a UK research initiative concerned with the long-term monitoring, analysis and prediction of environmental change. The digest series provides a concise summary of the main features of the data collected by ECN each year. This volume summarises ECN data collected in 2008 from the Terrestrial sites, and makes comparisons with the results from previous years. Data from the Freshwater ECN sites, for which data collection started in 1995, are published in a separate volume

UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) common breeding birds data 1971-2007

Bird species data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) lowland terrestrial sites. These data were collected, using the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)'s Common Bird Census methodology (CBC), at ECN's lowland terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. This protocol was abandoned in favour of the Breeding Bird Survey (Rennie et al (2017) UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) bird data: 1995-2015 https://doi.org/10.5285/5886c3ba-1fa5-49c0-8da8-40e69a10d2b5) in 1999; however, some sites continued to follow this protocol for a number of years after 1999 to allow comparison with the Breeding Bird Survey data. The CBC uses a mapping method in which a series of visits are made to all parts of a defined plot during the breeding season and contacts with birds by sight or sound are recorded on large-scale maps. Information from the series of visits is combined to estimate the number of territories found. Annual data are recorded but the date ranges available are variable for each site. ECN is the UK’s long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme sponsored by a consortium of fourteen government departments and agencies. These organisations contribute to the programme through funding either site monitoring and/or network co-ordination activities. These organisations are: Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru - Natural Resources Wales, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Llywodraeth Cymru - Welsh Government, Natural England, Natural Environment Research Council, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage