EIDC
Ridding, L.E.; Redhead, J.W.; Pywell, R.F.

Historic grassland survey data with contemporary spatial habitat data for semi-natural grasslands across England

https://doi.org/10.5285/1fb2cda3-cb49-414f-ad84-4a2f88ecce15 Cite this dataset
This dataset compares historic grassland survey data with contemporary spatial data of habitats in England. The NVC community and grassland type were determined for 848 quadrats surveyed at grassland sites in England between 1960 and 1981. A 100m buffer was generated around each individual quadrat which matched the spatial accuracy (±100m) of the quadrat location, to represent a grassland site. These sites were intersected with Natural England's Priority Habitats' Inventory in ArcGIS, to indicate the percentage cover of priority habitats found at the grassland sites in 2013.
Publication date: 2017-02-28

Format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

Spatial information

Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
OSGB 1936 / British National Grid

Temporal information

Temporal extent
1960-01-01    to    2013-12-31

Provenance & quality

The historic quadrat data was recorded at grassland sites in England between 1960 and 1981, using a standardised methodology. The vegetation in each quadrat was assigned to one of the British National Vegetation Classification (NVC) communities using Tablefit. Quadrats were further classified into one of four grassland types; calcareous grassland, lowland heath and dry acid grassland, mesotrophic grassland and wet grassland. The location of each quadrat surveyed was imported into ESRI ArcGIS v10. A 100m buffer was generated around each individual quadrat to represent a grassland site. To indicate the coverage of semi-natural grassland habitats in 2013, Natural England's Priority Habitats' Inventory was used. The percentage and type of priority habitat contained within each site was calculated in ArcGIS, using the tabulate intersection function in the spatial analyst toolbox. The percentage of each site designated as a SSSI was also calculated using Natural England's digital boundary data for SSSIs.

Supplemental information

Ridding, L.E., Redhead, J.W. and Pywell, R.F. (2015) Fate of semi-natural grassland in England between 1960 and 2013: A test of national conservation policy. Global Ecology and Conservation 4, 516-525
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2015.10.004

Correspondence/contact details

Ridding, L.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford
Wallingford
Oxfordshire
OX10 8BB
UNITED KINGDOM
 enquiries@ceh.ac.uk

Authors

Ridding, L.E.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
ORCID iD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3141-8795
Redhead, J.W.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
ORCID iD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2233-3848
Pywell, R.F.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
ORCID iD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6431-9959

Other contacts

Rights holder
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk
Publisher
NERC Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk

Additional metadata

Topic categories
environment
INSPIRE theme
Habitats and Biotopes
Keywords
GIS , grassland , Improved grassland , semi-natural , SSSI
Last updated
08 February 2024 17:31

Get the data

THIS DATASET HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED. The latest version is Historic grassland survey data with contemporary spatial habitat data for semi-natural grasslands across England version 2

If you need access to this archived version, please contact the EIDC

Supporting documentation

CITE AS: Ridding, L.E.; Redhead, J.W.; Pywell, R.F. (2017). Historic grassland survey data with contemporary spatial habitat data for semi-natural grasslands across England. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/1fb2cda3-cb49-414f-ad84-4a2f88ecce15

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