Bird species data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Counts of individual bird species are recorded. These data are collected, using the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)'s Breeding Bird Survey methodology, at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous records from 1995 to 2012 (the transects are walked twice each year). ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme sponsored by a...

Stream water discharge data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. The data (stage and discharge) are collected by loggers at ECN's terrestrial sites (where a stream is present) using a standard protocol. They represent continuous 15-minute records from 1993 to 2015. The sites at which these data are collected are: Glensaugh, Moor House - Upper Teesdale, Sourhope, Wytham and Y Wyddfa (Snowdon). ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is...

Soil solution data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Variables measured include pH, conductivity, alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, chloride, ammonium, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate phosphorous, potassium, sulphate sulphur, sodium, total nitrogen and total dissolved phosphorous. These data are collected by suction samplers at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous fortnightly records from 1992 to 2015. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme...

Stream water chemistry data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Variables measured include pH, conductivity, alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, chloride, ammonium, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate phosphorous, potassium, sulphate sulphur, sodium, total nitrogen and total dissolved phosphorous. The data are collected by dip samples at ECN's terrestrial sites (where there is a stream present) using a standard protocol. They represent continuous weekly records from 1992 to 2015. The sites at which these data are collected...

Tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a re- emerging disease of livestock which is of major economic importance world-wide, as well as being a zoonotic risk. There is significant heritability for host resistance to bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in dairy cattle. To identify resistance loci for bTB, we undertook a genome-wide association study in female Holstein-Friesian cattle with 592 cases and 559 age-matched controls from case herds. Cases and controls were categorised into distinct phenotypes: skin...

The field of molecular ecology is transitioning from the use of small panels of classical genetic markers such as microsatellites to much larger panels of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated by approaches like RAD sequencing. However, few empirical studies have directly compared the ability of these methods to resolve population structure. This could have implications for understanding phenotypic plasticity, as many previous studies of natural populations may have lacked the power to detect genetic differences,...

1. Farmland ponds are a highly threatened freshwater habitat which has undergone dramatic losses during the last 200 years due to land drainage schemes and agricultural intensification. Agri-environment schemes (AES) incentivise farmers to adopt farming methods to benefit biodiversity, yet there are a paucity of data evaluating the success of artificially created AES ponds as analogues of natural ponds in an attempt to recreate lost environments. 2. We examined variation in environmental parameters and aquatic...

Moth data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Counts of individual species are recorded. These data are collected by moth traps at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol.They represent continuous nightly records from 1992 to 2015. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme sponsored by a consortium of fourteen government departments and agencies. These organisations contribute to the programme through funding either site...

Rabbit and deer data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data are collected by transect at ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. The protocol uses an index method based on dropping counts (of deer, rabbits - and where appropriate sheep and Grouse) to estimate relative abundance. They represent twice-yearly continuous records from 1993 to 2012. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme sponsored by...

Atmospheric Nitrogen Dioxide data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data (weight of NO2) are collected by diffusion tubes at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous fortnightly records from 1993 to 2015. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme sponsored by a consortium of fourteen government departments and agencies. These organisations contribute to the programme through funding either site...

Fine Grain Vegetation data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data are collected at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol (see supporting documentation). In this protocol, 10m x 10m plots are randomly selected within each vegetation type on the site - species presence is recorded in 40cm x 40 cm cells randomly selected within these plots. They represent continuous records every three years (some sites record data annually)...

The colonization of Ireland by mammals, has been the subject of extensive study using genetic methods, and forms a central problem in understanding the phylo-geography of European mammals after the Last Glacial Maximum. Ireland exhibits a de-pauperate mammal fauna relative to Great Britain and continental Europe, and a range of natural and anthropogenic processes have given rise to its modern fauna. Previous Europe-wide surveys of the European badger (Meles meles) have found conflicting microsatellite and...

1. Grazing by ungulate herbivores can greatly alter nitrogen ([N]) and phosphorus ([P]) concentrations in plants and soils. It is not clear, however, how grazing might affect N:P co-limitation in grasslands depending on soil N and P availability. 2. Here we selected 173 peer-reviewed studies, which measured 12 key variables associated with changes in [N], [P] and N:P ratios (i.e. N:P stoichiometry) in soils and plants in the presence or absence of herbivore grazing. Subsequently,...

Woodland vegetation data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data are collected at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol (see Supporting documentation). This survey is conducted when plots surveyed during the coarse-grain survey fall in woodland. Seedlings, diameter at breast height (dbh), height and species dominance are recorded within a surrounding 10m x 10m plot. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme...

Fine Grain Vegetation data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data are collected at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol (see supporting documentation). In this protocol, 10m x 10m plots are randomly selected within each vegetation type on the site - species presence is recorded in 40cm x 40 cm cells randomly selected within these plots. They represent continuous records every three years (some sites record data annually)...

Spittle Bug data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data are collected by quadrat sampling at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol . They represent continuous annual records from 1993 to 2012. Spittle Bug adults (Philaenus spumarius) are sampled and separated by sex and by colour morph; it is likely that the proportions of morphs are environmentally determined and will therefore be good indicators of environmental change. Spittle...

Stream water discharge data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. The data (stage and discharge) are collected by loggers at ECN's terrestrial sites (where a stream is present) using a standard protocol. They represent continuous 15-minutely records from 1993 to 2012. The sites at which these data are collected are: Glensaugh, Moor House-Upper Teesdale, Sourhope, Wytham and Y Wyddfa (Snowdon). ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency...

Frog data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Variables measured include phenology (i.e. the dates when frogs start congregating, spawning, when hatching occurs and when the frogs leave), number of spawn masses, total surface area covered by spawn, percentage of dead spawn, depth, pH, conductivity, alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, chloride, ammonium, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate phosphorous, potassium, sulphate sulphur, sodium, total nitrogen and total dissolved phosphorous. These data are collected at ECN's terrestrial sites...

Woodland vegetation data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. These data are collected at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol (see Supporting documentation). This survey is conducted when plots surveyed during the coarse-grain survey fall in woodland. Seedlings, diameter at breast height (dbh), height and species dominance are recorded within a surrounding 10m x 10m plot. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme...

The functioning of human-managed grassland ecosystems strongly depends on how common management practices will affect grassland ‘belowground compartment’ including soil biogeochemistry and plant roots. Key questions remain about how animal grazing, liming (e.g. the addition of CaCO3 to soils), and nutrient fertilization might affect, in the long-term, soil nutrient cycling and multiple root traits. Here we focus on a mesotrophic grassland located in Berkshire, UK, where contrasting levels of rabbit grazing, liming and different inorganic...

Meteorology data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Variables measured include albedo (ground and sky), temperature (dry bulb, wet bulb and soil (at 10cm and 30cm)), relative humidity, radiation (net. and solar), rainfall, surface wetness, soil moisture, wind direction and wind speed. These data are collected by Automatic Weather Stations at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous hourly records from 1991 to 2015. ECN is the...

The population genetic structure of free-ranging species is expected to reflect landscape-level effects. Quantifying the role of these factors and their relative contribution often has important implications for wildlife management. The population genetics of the European badger (Meles meles) have received considerable attention, not least because the species acts as a potential wildlife reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Britain and Ireland. Herein, we detail the most comprehensive population and landscape genetic study of the...

Bird species data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Counts of individual bird species are recorded. These data are collected, using the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)'s Breeding Bird Survey methodology, at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous records from 1995 to 2015 (the transects are walked twice each year). ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme sponsored by a...

Soil solution data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Variables measured include pH, conductivity, alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, chloride, ammonium, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate phosphorous, potassium, sulphate sulphur, sodium, total nitrogen and total dissolved phosphorous. These data are collected by suction samplers at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous fortnightly records from 1992 to 2012. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency programme...

Precipitation chemistry data from the UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) terrestrial sites. Variables measured include pH, conductivity, alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, chloride, ammonium, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate phosphorous, potassium, sulphate sulphur, sodium, total nitrogen and total dissolved phosphorous. These data are collected by a bulk collector at all of ECN's terrestrial sites using a standard protocol. They represent continuous weekly records from 1992 to 2012. ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring programme. It is a multi-agency...