Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes with associated environmental observations from a plantation forest to bog restoration site, Talaheel, Forsinard Flows RSPB Reserve, Scotland, 2015-2022
Coyle, M., Andersen, R., Cash, J., Cowdery, E., Gilbert, P., Hill, T., Johnson-Marshall, A., Morrison, R., Vidis, M., Artz, R.R.E. (2024). Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes with associated environmental observations from a plantation forest to bog restoration site, Talaheel, Forsinard Flows RSPB Reserve, Scotland, 2015-2022. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/2922a694-fcaf-4046-b490-d80ce33b8ae8
This dataset contains measurements of carbon dioxide gas exchange over a site restored from plantation forest to peat in 1997/1998, in the Flow Country, Caithness and Sutherland. It contains eddy-covariance and associated meteorological and pedological measurements from 2015-08-19 11:00 to 2022-12-31 at half-hourly intervals. The carbon dioxide time series has been gap-filled to allow the calculation of annual budgets for carbon exchange. The site reference is UK-THE ( http://www.europe-fluxdata.eu/home/sites-list )
The site was established in 2014 by the University of St Andrews in collaboration with the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), James Hutton Institute (JHI), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and the Royal Society for the Protection Birds. Initially an open-path LI-7500 IRGA was used and subsequently replaced with a custom-built enclosed unit (essentially a LI-7500 open-path instrument enclosed in a box with a fan to sample the air and flow it through the chamber). The tower sits on a felled conifer plantation which was rewetted after the trees were harvested in 1997, with further furrow blocking in 2017. A little brash is still visible and although the ploughed furrows and ridges are visible, peatland vegetation has returned to the footprint. In 2018 JHI and UHI took over site operations and some instruments were replaced or refurbished in 2019 to bring the eddy-covariance measurements back to full operation. Over 2022-2024 the off-grid power system was upgraded with new panels and control system, while the radiation and soil sensors were also replaced. Measurements are made using standard instrumentation, retrieved remotely at regular intervals and processed using protocols similar to those defined by the FluxNet and and Integrated Carbon Observation Systems (ICOS) projects.
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds