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Countryside Survey 1978 estimates of Broad Habitat areas in Great Britain

Publisher
Environmental Information Data Centre
Updated
30 July 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

Countryside Survey is a unique study or 'audit' of the natural resources of the UK's countryside. The Survey has been carried out at regular intervals since 1978. 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. This dataset consists of stock data for habitats across Great Britain in 1978. The data are national estimates generated by analysing the sample data from 256 1km squares and scaling up to a national level. The data are summarized as habitat area per Land Class. 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 with repeated visits to the majority of squares. In addition to habitat areas, species plot, soil plot, linear habitat, freshwater habitat and satellite map data are also produced by Countryside Survey. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/c8feabac-7c3f-4c35-91f7-296782b957d1

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
Supporting documents ZIP 30/7/2026
Download the data 30/7/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
25 July 2026
Harvest GUID
c8feabac-7c3f-4c35-91f7-296782b957d1
Extent (Latitude)
61.38° to 49°
Extent (Longitude)
-9° to 3.34°
Dataset reference date (publication)
2012-04-18
Frequency of update
notPlanned
Access constraints
If you reuse this data, you should cite: Bunce, R.G.H., Wood, C.M., Henrys, P.A., Smart, S.M., Howard, D.C., Barr, C.J. (2012). Countryside Survey 1978 estimates of Broad Habitat areas in Great Britain. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/c8feabac-7c3f-4c35-91f7-296782b957d1
Responsible party
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (author); (author, pointOfContact, publisher, custodian)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng