Data comprise estimates of activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides (40K, 238U and 232Th series radionuclides) in environmental media (soil and stream sediments and waters) and non-human biota (focusing on the ICRP Reference Animals and Plants). For soil, stream sediments and stream waters data were derived from total K, U and Th concentrations mainly from the ongoing geochemical survey of the United Kingdom (G-BASE), conducted by the British Geological Survey. The geochemical survey data are currently incomplete for England and Wales, but almost complete coverage was obtained for K in stream sediments by using the Wolfson Atlas data for southern England. For U and Th in sediments and K, U and Th in soils, more complete coverage was achieved by geological extrapolation (using relationships between soils/sediments and bedrock/superficial geology). For media and sediments, datasets are provided for both: (i) geometric mean concentrations from measured samples on a 5 x 5 km square basis where data are available; and (ii) extrapolated surfaces covering all of England and Wales. Data for non-human biota are from targeted sampling and analyses and data review. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/bb2d7874-7bf4-44de-aa43-348bd684a2fe

This dataset contains modelled outputs of the European river network modelled as 33,668 cells (5° longitude by 5° latitude). For each cell, modelled monthly flows were generated for an ensemble of tenscenarios for the 2050s and for the study baseline (naturalized flows for 1961 to 1990). Score classes are categorisation of flow alteration scenarios. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d8ef71eb-3d22-4f98-af15-9d8e046ccb63

Data includes impacts on root nodule biomass, stomatal conductance, injury rates, and N-fixation in the white clover cultivar (T. repens cv. crusader). An ozone-exposure experiment was conducted in solardomes during the spring and summer of year 2012 on modern clover (Trifolium spp.) cultivars. The effects of ozone pollution (30, 35, 40, 45, 52, 67 parts per billion (ppb) treatment means) on the growth and functioning of the clover cultivars was investigated. Both cultivars had positive increases in ozone-injury rates, although stomatal conductance was unaffected by ozone exposure. Reductions in root nodule biomass and nodule number occurred in white clover, and red clover displayed an increase in nodule density. Nitrogen fixation rates were suppressed in white clover, which could have important implications for the sustainability of managed pasture. The work was carried out as part of a NERC funded PhD. Project number NEC04456. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/b63fbb6c-5030-43a1-b0ea-160bb5a83078

Data includes raw shoot biomass and yield, production and gas exchange, nodulation and N-fixation and forage quality data, including relative and consumable food values. The impacts of ozone on the growth and functioning of high-sugar ryegrass pasture mesocosms was assessed in year 2013. Pasture mesocosms, containing perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L) and white clover (Trifolium repens L), were grown in the early spring and exposed to ozone in solardomes from late April 2013 to the end of September 2013. Ozone (30, 35, 40, 45, 52, 67 parts per billion (ppb) treatment means) had a large effect on the pasture mesocosms. The work was carried out as part of a NERC funded PhD. Project number NEC04456. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/e0bcdc39-ab79-413c-bf76-d6ffbc510f15

The dataset consists of proportions of ozone injured or senesced leaves from a study which investigated how the presence of competing species in a community affects these two common responses to ozone. Monocultures and mixtures of Trifolium repens and Lolium perenne were grown in large containers and were exposed in solardomes to either a rural episodic ozone profile (AOT40 (Accumulated Ozone Threshold exposure of 40 parts per billion) of 12.86 ppm h) or control conditions (AOT40 of 0.02 ppm h) for 12 weeks. The proportion of ozone-injured or senesced leaves was determined in different regions of the canopy, the upper canopy (>14cm high), the canopy edge and the inner canopy, by separating injured/senesced leaves from healthy leaves. The experiment was carried out at the CEH Bangor Air Pollution Facility. This work was funded by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Integrating Fund Initiative Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/bc4d0325-b67b-4fff-a14b-6e06edf397bd

A dataset of historical sediment Carbon and Nitrogen isotope measurements from lake cores (n=95) spanning the range of lake types and catchments found across the UK. These data have been obtained from the Environmental Change Research Centre (ECRC) lake sediment core archive with well-resolved time intervals (1850, 1900, 1980 and present) determined by radiometric dating (210Pb; 137Cs). This data has been collated to investigate historical sources and accumulation of C and N in lakes. This dataset provides historical data for hydrological / nutrient modelling from the Long Term Large Scale (LTLS) Project in the NERC Macronutrients programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/4b53b1d7-f290-4b47-97e9-9f9ec79f3003

This dataset contains operational taxonomic units for epilithon (water samples): Approximate location of sampling sites was determined from maps to provide good spatial coverage of the Wold River through to the Tamar River. Exact sites were determined in the field, considering accessibility and other logistics. The exact location of each sample site was determined using a Garmin GPS12. Three stones were taken from each of the 20 locations and epilithon removed from a defined area. Samples were kept in the cold and removed to the laboratory for analyses. DNA was extracted from all soil and epilithon samples using the MOBIO Powersoil 96 well DNA extraction kit. DNA was quality checked for purity and yield prior to submission for 454 pyrosequencing to assess both bacterial and eukaryotic biodiversity within each sample. Following bioinformatic sequence processing, sequencing were clustered into operational taxonomic units (OTU) and the data tables display the percentage of each OTU within each sample. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/16649ff0-af24-41b0-bcb4-15e610dac170

This data provides the results of a survey of the water quality of small streams draining forested and felled catchments across Wales. The water quality measurements are extensive, including analysis of major, minor, trace and ultra-trace elements together with nutrient and standard water quality measures such as pH and Gran alkalinity. Opportunistic sampling was undertaken with the aid for Forest Enterprise staff to sample sites at periods of both dry and very wet weather in order to assess the water quality under baseflow and stormflow conditions, respectively, to assess groundwater and soil endmember chemistries. The work was undertaken as part of a joint NERC, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission funded study to examine the impacts of conifer harvesting and replanting on upland water quality (Neal et al., 1998). Small catchment sites (2 to 5 ha) were chosen single tree and soil type at each location. Across the sites, the number of samplings varied between 1 and 10 depending upon feasibility of sampling. The monitoring period was from the 7th September 1995 up to the 18th November 1997.The scope and range of the Welsh survey work together with the findings are provided by Neal et al., 1998. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/6361c484-42bd-4e0c-874f-ef22dc55129f

PROJECT DETAILS ONLY - NO DATA. We propose a detailed study of the biotic record (foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) of the Eocene/Oligocene transition in ODP Hole 647 in the Labrador Sea. The sediments in this core constitutes the only continuously-cored high-latitude record of biotic and climatic change available for study in the northern North Atlantic recovered by Ocean Drilling. The record is unique because the sediments contain well-preserved calcareous micro- and nannofossils as well as agglutinated foraminifera (Kaminski et al. 1989, Pearson & Burgess, 2008). We wish to document the nature of faunal change in the deep North Atlantic across this critical interval in Earth's Climate History, and link the record of faunal change to palaeoclimatic proxies in the same core. As a first step in understanding the magnitude, duration, and ultimate cause of faunal changes, we propose to compile a microfaunal record consisting of 57 new samples collected across the Eocene/Oligocene transition in ODP Hole 647A.

PROJECT DETAILS ONLY - NO DATA. The incredible success of living birds (>9000 species) results, in part, from their unique respiratory system, which underpins the key evolutionary innovations of high metabolism and flight. This system comprises the lungs and a complex array of interconnected air sacs. The air sacs allow a unidirectional flow of air through the lungs, permitting exceptionally efficient gas-exchange. Extensions from the air sacs penetrate and pneumatize nearby bones, including vertebrae and limb elements, with the associated effect of reducing skeletal mass. In contrast, the closest living relatives of birds, crocodiles, lack air sacs and corresponding pneumatic features. There is now overwhelming evidence that birds are direct descendents of theropod dinosaurs. Many features previously regarded as uniquely avian appeared first among dinosaurs (e.g. feathers, brooding behaviour). The avian air sac system is another such feature: its presence in theropod and sauropod dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) has been inferred on the basis of pneumatic features in vertebrae that are almost identical to those seen in living birds. However, the origin of the air sac system is poorly understood: there is no consensus on whether air sacs and pneumaticity were present in the common ancestor of theropods, sauropods and pterosaurs, or whether they evolved independently in these three groups. Furthermore, possible evidence of pneumaticity has recently been identified in more distantly related Triassic archosaurs, prompting the controversial hypothesis that pneumaticity (and, by inference, air sacs and some bird-like respiratory capabilities) may have been present in the last common ancestor of birds and crocodiles, and subsequently lost in crocodilians. If true, this would require radical alteration of our understanding of the remarkable biology of birds and crocodiles and how they evolved. Understanding the origin of the avian respiratory system is clearly fundamental to explaining the success and diversity of the various archosaur lineages. However, the main alternative hypotheses have not yet been tested. We propose a pilot study to test alternative hypotheses explaining the origin of bird-like respiration. This work is timely, given recent intensive interest in dinosaur and bird respiratory systems, the availability of the research team and a new micro X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) facility at the Natural History Museum. We will determine the presence/absence of pneumatic structures in the vertebrae of selected Triassic archosaurs that lie close to the common ancestry of crocodiles and birds. The identification of pneumaticity will be based on external and internal vertebral anatomy: the latter data were previously unavailable, but will be obtained using CT scans - an entirely novel approach to this problem. The extent of pneumaticity, both within individual bones and throughout the skeleton, will be documented and the distribution of pneumatic structures will be determined by mapping the presence/absence of these features onto current archosaur evolutionary trees. This will permit us to establish: when pneumaticity appeared in archosaurs; whether the acquisition (or loss) of pneumaticity was a single event or occurred on multiple independent occasions; and the evolutionary sequence in which the different components of the air sac system appeared. Demonstrating the absence of pneumaticity in basal archosaurs would falsify hypotheses that a bird-like respiratory system was present in the ancestral archosaur, and support alternative hypotheses suggesting a later origin of air sacs. However, if pneumaticity is identified in primitive archosaurs this project will demonstrate that evolution of the air sac system is more complex than currently assumed and will facilitate future investigations into the origins of avian and crocodilian respiratory systems.