Critical load/level linkages for interest features at UK protected sites

Published by:
Environmental Information Data Centre
Last updated:
29 June 2024
Topic:
Not added
Licence:
None

Summary

[THIS DATASET HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN]. This dataset contains the linkages between designated features and their relevant critical loads or levels. The designated features come from the UK network of protected nature sites including: (i) Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) (ii) Special Protection Areas (SPA) (iii) Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - England, Scotland, Wales (iv) Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) - Northern Ireland. Critical loads and levels are set under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. For nutrient nitrogen critical loads are based on empirical evidence, mainly observations from experiments and targeted gradient studies. These empirical critical loads are assigned to habitat classes of the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) to enable consistency of habitat terminology and understanding across Europe. In order to assign the relevant critical load to Annex I features, A/SSSI habitat features, or habitats of Annex II/SPA features, habitat correspondence tables are used to determine the relationship between the EUNIS classes for which nitrogen critical loads are set and the interest features. Critical loads of acidity are based on soil and habitat types. They are set for six Broad Habitats; acid grassland, calcareous grassland, dwarf shrub heath, bogs, montane, unmanaged coniferous and broadleaved woodland. Critical Levels for air pollutants are not habitat specific and have been set to cover broad vegetation types (e.g. forest arable, semi-natural), often with critical values set for sensitive lichens and bryophytes. They have been derived from experiments and observation that show varied effects on vegetation including visible injury symptoms of exposure and species composition changes in semi-natural vegetation. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/c37cb567-6afc-4cf8-b0bc-8ec054346a6f

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Supporting information ZIP 29 June 2024 Not available

Additional information

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Added to data.gov.uk
2024-02-08
Access contraints
Superseded
Harvest GUID
c37cb567-6afc-4cf8-b0bc-8ec054346a6f
Extent
Latitude: 60.861° to °
Longitude: -8.648° to 1.768°
Spatial reference system
Dataset reference date
2017-08-21 (publication)
2017-03-01 (creation)
Frequency of update
Responsible party
(pointOfContact, author, custodian, publisher); Joint Nature Conservation Committee (author)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng
Source Metadata
XML
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