This dataset contains sequential biomass harvests from a plant growth experiment carried out under controlled environmental conditions in Sheffield. The experiment was carried out in three parts in 2016 and 2017, and was designed to investigate differences in growth among grasses with the C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways, and with annual and perennial life histories. Plants were harvested approximately weekly over a period of five weeks. The data include information on the dry biomass of roots and leaves, and the numbers of roots, leaves and shoot branches. Also included is an independent dataset of leaf anatomical characteristics derived from herbarium specimens, which was used to test how mechanical support scales with leaf size. Finally, the data include the phylogenetic relationships among species, which were used in analyses. The work was funded by NERC standard grant NE/N003152/1. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/cb0d7a37-45c5-4645-b5ef-ba097d92fc20

Data comprise plot details and radionuclide activity concentrations for Sr-90, Cs-137, Am-241, Pu-238, Pu-239 and Pu-240 in ‘grassy’ vegetation and soil. These radionuclide activity concentrations have been used to make estimations of total weighted absorbed doses to grassy vegetation, deciduous trees and bacteria; no dose rate estimates for grassy vegetation have been made for those sites where grassy vegetation was absent. Radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident killed coniferous trees in a 4-6 km2 area of forest to the west of the power plant. This area is now known as the 'Red Forest’ and it has subsequently regenerated with understorey vegetation and deciduous trees; it is the most anthropogenically contaminated radioactive ecosystem on Earth. In July 2016 a severe fire burnt (to varying degrees) c. 80 percent of the Red Forest; this presented a unique opportunity to study the impact of radiation on the recovery of forest ecosystems exposed to a secondary stressor (fire). To investigate this, in September 2017 the RED FIRE project set up sixty study plots in the Red Forest (in burnt and unburnt areas) with a further nine plots established close to Buriakivka village (approximately 8 km from the Red Forest). Vegetation samples from each plot were harvested using shears in September 2017. Each sample was sorted into ‘grassy’ and ‘other’ vegetation; these were air-dried (20-25 degrees Celsius) and the grassy vegetation samples homogenised prior to radionuclide analyses. Soil core samples collected in September 2017 were bulked, homogenised and sub-samples taken for determination of pH and percentage moisture determined by oven drying (approximately 60 degrees Celsius) to a constant mass. The remaining soil sample was used for the determination of radionuclide activity concentrations; prior to analyses, these samples were dried at approximately 80 degrees Celsius. This work was funded by the NERC, Grant Ref: NE/P015212/1 (RED FIRE: Radioactive Environment Damaged by fire: a Forest In Recovery) Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/60782622-7bfa-4615-a9e3-0a802a9f4674

The dataset describes the effects of different management techniques on grassland biomass production (dry matter yield), nutritional quality (herbage nitrogen content), pollinator communities (abundance and species richness), predatory beetle communities (abundance, species richness and biomass), and soil health (bulk density, total soil carbon and nitrogen). Data was collected from a site in Berkshire (UK), where a field-scale, randomised block experiment had been implemented to investigate how the establishment of a variety of plant functional groups (grasses, legumes, and other flowering forbs) using different cultivation (minimum tillage and deep ploughing) and management (cutting, grazing and their intensity) techniques, affected the provision of various ecosystem services. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/984b1001-82f1-4ba0-aa1e-412f85d9d24f

Data comprise radiocaesium concentrations in soil, vegetation, wildlife and fungi analysed from samples collected from throughout Great Britain after the 1986 Chernobyl accident by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), formerly the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE). National level vegetation surveys were conducted in May 1986, October 1986 and Spring 1987. More intensive surveys of vegetation (grass and heather) and wildlife (grouse, fox, etc.) in restricted areas were carried out in Cumbria, Wales and North Yorkshire in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993. Surveys of fungi were carried out between 1994 and 1997. The data are suitable for interpolation to create spatially variable surfaces suitable for input into models. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d0a6a8bf-68f0-4935-8b43-4e597c3bf251

This dataset consists in a collection of remotely sensed drought indicators time series. The data was extracted from CEH's gridded remotely sensed drought indicators product (Tanguy et al., 2016; http://doi.org/10.5285/4e0d0e50-2f9c-4647-864d-5c3b30bb5f4b), which has gridded data for Europe for three drought indicators: - the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) based on satellite product NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index); - the Temperature Condition Index (TCI) based on remotely sensed LST (Land Surface Temperature); - the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) which is a combination of VCI and TCI. These three drought indicators have been extracted for European NUTS regions (level 0, 1, 2 and 3). These have been masked with a land use land cover map to be able to study different responses for various land cover types. A simplified LULC was created, with only four classes: forest, crop, shrub and grass. One extra time series was created for all classes together. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/5b3fcf9f-19d4-4ad3-a8bb-0a5ea02c857e

This dataset presents the results of an initial sampling exercise conducted at a terrestrial site in northwest England in summer 2010. The following samples of terrestrial Reference Animals and Plants (RAPs) were obtained from an area of circa 0.4 km squared: Molinia caerulea (ICRP RAP Wild Grass defined as Poaceae); Picea sitchensis (ICRP RAP Pine Tree defined as Pinaceae); Apis spp., Bombus spp., Nomada spp. (ICRP RAP Bee defined as Apidea); Apodemus sylvaticus (ICRP RAP Rat defined as Muridae); Earthworms (species in the Family Lumbricidae as defined for the ICRP RAP Earthworm); Deer (belonging to the Family Anatidae (i.e. the ICRP RAP Deer). Soil samples were also collected from throughout the sampling area. All samples were analysed for multiple elements using ICP-MS/ICP-OES and most for gamma-emitting radionuclides. Results have been used to derive biota-soil concentration ratios. The ICRP have published their framework for radiation protection of the environment (ICRP Publication 108). This describes the use of RAPs as the basis for their framework. The RAPs are generalised to the taxonomic level of Family. Publication 108 presented dose coefficient values for the selected RAPs and also reviewed data on the effects of ionising radiation to suggest Derived Consideration Reference Levels for each RAP. In summer 2010 the ICRP released a further report on their protection framework for consultation. This report presented transfer parameter values (organism-media concentration ratios) for Reference Animals and Plants. The report also raised the possibility of identifying a series of sites where samples of each Reference Animal and Plant, and their different lifestages, could be collected and analysed. It was suggested that the resultant data would constitute a set of reference values analogous to approaches used by the ICRP for human radiological protection. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/e40b53d4-6699-4557-bd55-10d196ece9ea

Data comprise elemental concentrations of Ca, Cs, K, Mg, Sr, NH4-N and NPOC (Non-Purgeable Organic Carbon) measured by ICPMS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry), ICPOES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) or high temperature combustion catalytic oxidation. Samples include a range of freeze-dried crops (grass, radish, potato, strawberry, lettuce, courgette, chard) relevant to the human food chain, soil, soil pore waters and irrigation water. All samples were obtained following two plant growth studies conducted at CEH Lancaster during spring/summer 2018 and 2019 and a study conducted at the University of Extremadura (Cáceres) in the summer of 2018. The study was conducted as part of the CONFIDENCE project which is part of the CONCERT EJP, which receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 662287. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/76d6772d-477e-4a49-a4a6-a0fe6a0a9ba9

[THIS DATASET HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN]. Please note - this dataset is not current. For the most recent version, please search for the dataset titled 'Post Chernobyl surveys of radiocaesium in soil, vegetation, wildlife and fungi in Great Britain'. Data comprise radiocaesium concentrations in soil, vegetation, wildlife and fungi analysed from samples collected from throughout Great Britain after the 1986 Chernobyl accident by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), formerly the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE). National level vegetation surveys were conducted in May 1986, October 1986 and Spring 1987. More intensive surveys of vegetation (grass and heather) and wildlife (grouse, fox, etc.) in restricted areas were carried out in Cumbria, Wales and North Yorkshire in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993. Surveys of fungi were carried out between 1994 and 1997. The data are suitable for interpolation to create spatially variable surfaces suitable for input into models. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/7a5cfd3e-0247-4228-873d-5be563c4ee3b