Plant structural measurements in North Wales and Northwest England 2013 and 2014

Published by:
Environmental Information Data Centre
Last updated:
30 July 2026
Topic:
Not added
Licence:
None

Summary

The data consists of plant structural plant community measurements from fifteen sites located in the Conwy catchment (North Wales) and from two sites in North West England. Annual aboveground net primary productivity (NPP), canopy height (cht), bryophyte cover (Bcov), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf mass area (LMA) and specific leaf area (SLA) were measured on the dominant plant species. Data were collected in 2013 and 2014. The sites were chosen to represent habitat types and the terrestrial productivity gradient in Britain from intensive agriculturally managed lowland grasslands through to montane heath. Plots within the sites were located using a stratified random sampling design. Plant trait values were taken from existing published databases or were directly measured in each plot for the two species contributing the highest percentage cover. NPP (grams of dry mass per square metre per year) was measured using a variety of methods according to the plant functional types present. SLA and LDMC was measured on site focussing on the dominant vascular plant species in each plot defined as the two species contributing maximum standing biomass in the year of sampling. Leaf area was calculated based on scanned photographs analysed using Image J software v1.46r. Plant parameters were tested across a land use intensification gradient to detect parameters that can predict aboveground biomass production across different land management types. Data were used to enhance the predictions of biomass production in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator model (JULES). Measurements informed the improvement of the nitrogen cycle component in the model. Measurements were undertaken by trained members of staff from Bangor University, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Exeter University. This data was collected for the NERC project - The Multi-Scale Response of Water quality, Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration to Coupled Macronutrient Cycling from Source to Sea (NE/J011991/1). The project is also referred to as Turf2Surf. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/8899768c-cc5a-4885-a88b-c08374ee568e

More from this publisher

All datasets from Environmental Information Data Centre

Search

Data links

Link to the data Format File added Data preview
Supporting information ZIP 30 July 2026 Not available
Download the data N/A 30 July 2026 Not available

Additional information

View additional metadata
Added to data.gov.uk
2026-07-25
Access contraints
© UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Harvest GUID
8899768c-cc5a-4885-a88b-c08374ee568e
Extent
Latitude: 54.201° to °
Longitude: -4.035° to -2.311°
Spatial reference system
Dataset reference date
2016-11-30 (publication)
2016-11-16 (creation)
Frequency of update
notPlanned
Responsible party
(author, pointOfContact, publisher, owner, custodian)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng
Source Metadata
XML
HTML

Contact

Enquiries

Contact Environmental Information Data Centre regarding this dataset

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology enquiry service Freedom of information requests for this dataset