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InformaTec is a 2-year, NERC-funded project that seeks to identify how to manage the increasing wealth of environmental data and information so that it can be transmitted, distributed, stored, archived, analysed and visualised, and in so doing, aims to recognise and develop opportunities for knowledge and technology transfer, both nationally and internationally. As such, InformaTec addresses a major objective of the NERC science strategy, namely, the “exploitation of technological advances to develop improved methods of monitoring environmental change.” InformaTec-Soils is one component of InformaTec; other aspects of the project focus on environmental monitoring, data standards, interoperability, and distributed computing. The specific aim of InformaTec-Soils is to draw together key players having interest in the collection and synthesis of large-scale soil data sets with a view to identifying what needs to be done to improve understanding of soil and environmental change. As part of the InformaTec-Soils initiative, a meeting of 24 experts from across the UK was convened at Defra, in London, on 14 March 2011. Through presentations, roundtable discussions and breakout groups, the meeting explored, current informatics, methodological and cultural challenges, and constraints, to the synthesis of UK and European soils data for understanding soil and environmental change. This report presents a vision for an ecosystems approach to soils and summarizes the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting held in London. As well as identifying opportunities for the soils community generally, the report will be presented to NERC to inform decisions on future funding. The authors of the report extend their gratitude to all who contributed to the meeting and the production of this report. The report identifies the following important research topics for soils: Key areas for research: 1) Framework development. 2) Quantifying the soil resource, stocks, fluxes, transformations an

In response to growing concern about impacts of upland agricultural land management on flood risk, an intensely instrumented experimental catchment has been established at Pontbren, a sheep-farmed headwater catchment of the River Severn, UK. Primary aims are to develop understanding of the processes governing flood generation and the associated impacts of land management practices, and to bridge the gap between process understanding and ability to predict effects on downstream flooding. To achieve this, the experiment is designed to operate at plot (100 m2), hillslope (0·1 km2) and small catchment scale (10 km2). Hillslope-scale data, from an under-drained, agriculturally improved pasture, show that drain flow is a dominant runoff process. However, depending on antecedent moisture conditions, overland flow may exceed drain flow rates and can be an important contributor to peak flow runoff at the hillslope-scale. Flow, soil tension data and tracer tests confirm the importance of macropores and presence of perched water tables under normal wet conditions. Comparisons of pasture runoff with that from within a 10 year-old tree shelterbelt show significantly reduced overland flow due to the presence of trees and/or absence of sheep. Comparisons of soil hydraulic properties show significant increases in hydraulic conductivity and saturated moisture content of soil under trees compared to adjacent improved pasture.

Background Climate change, caused by greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions, is one of the most serious threats facing our planet, and is of concern at both UK and devolved administration levels. Accurate predictions for the effects of changes in climate and land use on GHG emissions are vital for informing land use policy. Models which are currently used to predict differences in soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) caused by these changes, have been derived from those based on mineral soils or deep peat. None of these models is entirely satisfactory for describing what happens to organic soils following land-use change. Reports of Scottish GHG emissions have revealed that approximately 15% of Scotland's total emissions come from land use changes on Scotland's high carbon soils; the figure is much lower for Wales. It is therefore important to reduce the major uncertainty in assessing the carbon store and flux from land use change on organic soils, especially those which are too shallow to be deep peats but still contain a large reserve of C. In order to predict the response of organic soils to external change we need to develop a model that reflects more accurately the conditions of these soils. The development of a model for organic soils will help to provide more accurate values of net change to soil C and N in response to changes in land use and climate and may be used to inform reporting to UKGHG inventories. Whilst a few models have been developed to describe deep peat formation and turnover, none have so far been developed suitable for examining the impacts of land-use and climate change on the types of organic soils often subject to land-use change in Scotland and Wales. Organic soils subject to land-use change are often (but not exclusively) characterised by a shallower organic horizon than deep peats (e.g. organo-mineral soils such as peaty podzols and peaty gleys). The main aim of the model developed in this project was to simulate the impacts of land-use and climat

This dataset consists of invertebrate (soil mesofauna) counts from soils sampled across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of metal concentrations measured from soils sampled across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of soil physico-chemical properties (pH, loss on ignition, bulk density, moisture content, carbon stock and concentration, total nitrogen, Olsen phosphorus) from soils sampled from up to 591 1km squares across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of measures of topsoil mineralisable nitrogen (Mineral-N) from soils sampled from up to 256 1km squares across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of metal concentrations measured from soils sampled across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of measures of topsoil mineralisable nitrogen (Mineral-N) from soils sampled from up to 256 1km squares across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of soil physico-chemical properties (pH, loss on ignition, bulk density, moisture content, carbon stock and concentration, total nitrogen, Olsen phosphorus) from soils sampled from up to 591 1km squares across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.

This dataset consists of invertebrate (soil mesofauna) counts from soils sampled across Great Britain in 2007. The 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 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey.