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National Plant Monitoring Scheme

National Plant Monitoring Scheme survey data (2015-2020)

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PLEASE NOTE:

By accessing or using this dataset, you agree to the terms of the relevant licence agreement(s). You will ensure that this dataset is cited in any publication that describes research in which the data have been used.

© UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Plantlife, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

The following acknowledgement is required for use of this dataset: The National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) is organised and funded by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Plantlife and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The NPMS is indebted to all volunteers who contribute data to the scheme.

This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence

Download the data
https://doi.org/10.5285/f478ea82-a0e9-4778-955b-34c7ebfdd421
This data resource provides plot-level plant occurrence data for the first six years (2015-2020) of the National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS, covering the UK, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man). Data consist of individual observations of plants, and other habitat characteristics, at the metre-scale; observations are accompanied by percentage cover information recorded according to the Domin frequency-abundance scale commonly used in plant community ecology. Other information provided includes the plot type (size, shape, according to the NPMS classification), the volunteer-recorded NPMS habitat, the date of sampling, and information regarding the spatial location of the plot. Information contained within the metadata file should allow users to reconstruct the sampling history (including gaps) of any plot that has been sampled within the NPMS scheme between 2015 and 2020.

The NPMS is organised and funded by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Plantlife and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. This work partly supported through Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability.

Please be aware that this dataset is updated annually and that more recent versions exist.
Publication date: 2021-08-30

Format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

Spatial information

Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)

Temporal information

Temporal extent
2015-01-01    to    2020-12-31

Provenance & quality

Data were collected directly from volunteers into a custom Indicia database system (www.indicia.org.uk) through the NPMS website (www.npms.org.uk) or app. The Indicia system is built on a PostgreSQL/PostGIS database, and the data presented here were extracted directly from this master database using appropriate SQL queries. See the associated documentation for more information on the broader Quality Assurance processes supporting the NPMS.

Licensing and constraints

This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence

Cite this dataset as:
National Plant Monitoring Scheme (2021). National Plant Monitoring Scheme survey data (2015-2020). NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/f478ea82-a0e9-4778-955b-34c7ebfdd421

© UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Plantlife, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

The following acknowledgement is required for use of this dataset: The National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) is organised and funded by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Plantlife and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The NPMS is indebted to all volunteers who contribute data to the scheme.

Citations

Wilson, O.J., & Pescott, O.L. (2023). Assessing the exposure of UK habitats to 20th‐ and 21st‐century climate change, and its representation in ecological monitoring schemes. In Journal of Applied Ecology (Vol. 60, Issue 9, pp. 1995–2006). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14455

Correspondence/contact details

National Plant Monitoring Scheme
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
 support@npms.org.uk

Author

National Plant Monitoring Scheme

Other contacts

Rights holder
Natural Environment Research Council
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk
Publisher
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk

Additional metadata

Topic categories
environment
INSPIRE theme
Species Distribution
Keywords
Biodiversity , Biodiversity , environmental monitoring , Environmental survey , habitat , National Plant Monitoring Scheme , National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) , plant community , UK-SCAPE , vegetation
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/R016429/1
Last updated
28 April 2025 12:46