Vegetation plot data from the UKCEH Countryside Survey, Great Britain, 2019

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

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https://doi.org/10.5285/fd6ae272-aeb5-4573-8e8a-7ccfae64f506

This dataset consists of plant species presence and abundance in different sizes of plots recorded from the first 100 1km squares across Great Britain in 2019, as part of a rolling soil and vegetation monitoring program of 500 1km squares, repeated every 5 years.

The UKCEH Countryside Survey is a unique study or 'audit' of the natural resources of the UK's countryside. The sample sites are chosen from a stratified random sample, based on a 15 by 15 km grid of GB. Surveys have been carried out in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1998 and 2007 by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and predecessors, with repeated visits to the majority of squares. The countryside is sampled and surveyed using rigorous scientific methods, allowing us to compare new results with those from previous surveys. In this way, we can detect the gradual and subtle changes that occur in the UK's countryside over time. In addition to vegetation data, soil data are also gathered by the current phase of the Countryside Survey.

This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability.

Publication date: 2020-12-08

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View numbers valid from 01 June 2023 Download numbers valid from 20 June 2024 (information prior to this was not collected)

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

2019-05-19 to 2019-09-27

Provenance & quality

The data were recorded using electronic data capture devices in the summer of 2019 by professional, trained surveyors. Data were recorded from 100 x 1km squares sited across Britain, selected by random stratified sample. The survey was managed by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Standard Countryside Survey methodology was applied (refer to the online documentation).

Licensing and constraints

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

Cite this dataset as:

Smart, S.M.; Andrews, C.; Fitos, E.; Garbutt, R.A.; Gray, A.; Henrys, P.A.; Koblizek, E.; Pallett, D.W.; Robinson, D.A.; Rose, R.J.; Rowe, R.L.; Scarlett, P.; Towill, J.; Wagner, M.; Williams, B.; Wood, C.M. (2020). Vegetation plot data from the UKCEH Countryside Survey, Great Britain, 2019. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/fd6ae272-aeb5-4573-8e8a-7ccfae64f506

BibTeX RIS

This dataset is included in the following collections

Countryside Survey

Citations

Seaton, F.M., Robinson, D.A., Monteith, D., Lebron, I., Bürkner, P., Tomlinson, S., Emmett, B. A., & Smart, S. M. (2022). Fifty years of reduction in sulphur deposition drives recovery in soil pH and plant communities. In Journal of Ecology (Vol. 111, Issue 2, pp. 464-478). https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14039

Bayr, U., et al. (2023), Guidelines for the development of an OECD farmland habitat biodiversity indicator, OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, No. 201, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/09d45d55-en