Vegetation change at Whim peatbog (2002-2016)

Data were collected by recording cover of all species occurring in permanent quadrats.
The location of the quadrats was marked with canes.
Cover recording was done by subjective visual assessment.
Values are expressed as percentages of the ground area of the quadrat covered by that species.
Data were recorded on paper in the field, and later transcribed to Excel spreadsheets.
The Excel spreadsheets were processed by an R script, which corrected naming errors, and averaged values for the 16 10x10 cm sub-squares to give the 40x40 cm quadrat mean.
There are some instance of unreliable data, where implausibly large changes occur from within a few years. This is likely to come from changes in quadrat position, or human error in identifying and recording the species.
The data were mainly collected by Lucy Sheppard and Ian Leith, and latterly by Netty van Dijk and co-workers.

Related datasets

Ammonia concentration and deposition data from a peatland nitrogen pollution experiment, Whim Bog, Scotland, UK, 2002-2022

This dataset is included in the following collections

Vegetation change and greenhouse gas emission data from the Whim Peatbog nitrogen manipulation experiment in Southern Scotland