A time-series of leaf-level optical hyperspectral reflectance captured using a leaf-clip and handheld spectrometer for 17 herbaceous species typical of chalk grassland habitat in Kent UK, over 13 sampling dates in 2021. Data were collected using a non-imaging spectrometer manufactured by Spectra-vista Corporation fitted with a leaf-clip; capturing reflectance from 350 - 2500nm. Funded by NERC Grant NE/L002566/1.

Data comprise measurements of plant biomass and community composition, soil microbial community composition, greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon and nitrogen pools from a drought experiment superimposed on a the long-term Colt Park grassland restoration experiment in northern England. Rainfall was manipulated using rain-out shelters on experimental grassland plots where fertiliser application and seed addition have been managed to enhance plant species diversity. The scientific purpose was to test the hypothesis that management aimed at biodiversity restoration increases the resistance and recovery of carbon cycling to short-term summer drought. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/8a41b2a2-01d7-409e-adf5-fba3f3770f29

[THIS DATASET HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN]. This dataset compares historic grassland survey data with contemporary spatial data of habitats in England. The NVC community and grassland type were determined for 848 quadrats surveyed at grassland sites in England between 1960 and 1981. A 100m buffer was generated around each individual quadrat which matched the spatial accuracy (±100m) of the quadrat location, to represent a grassland site. These sites were intersected with Natural England's Priority Habitats' Inventory in ArcGIS, to indicate the percentage cover of priority habitats found at the grassland sites in 2013. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/1fb2cda3-cb49-414f-ad84-4a2f88ecce15

This dataset contains aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) estimates and litter layer depth measurements from five long-term grassland-to-woodland land use contrasts across England between 2018 and 2021. Each metric was measured once at each site. Litter layer depth was measured between November 2018 and March 2019 . Leaves were sampled for ANPP estimates in 2021. Each land use contrast was assigned a grassland and a woodland plot respectively. Each of these plots was further divided into three grids (grassland grids 1 to 3 / woodland grids 4 to 6) with grids 1 and 6 being the furthest apart. The contrast boundary is between grids 3 and 4. In each plot, nine sampling locations were randomly sampled (three in each grid). The five land use contrasts were: Gisburn (Gisburn-1, Gisburn-2), Alice Holt, Wytham Woods, and Kielder Forest. ANPP (g dry mass m-2 yr-1) was estimated from measured leaf dry matter content of the two dominant species in each grassland and woodland plot. Litter layer depth (cm) was measured with a ruler in the field. ANPP estimates and litter layer depth measurements in this dataset are co-located with soil physical, chemical and biological properties (0-1 m), soil hydraulic measurements (soil water release curves and hydraulic conductivity), and earthworm counts and identification. A file is provided to connect all co-located measurements. This project was part of the UK-SCAPE programme which started in 2018 and was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council as National Capability (award number NE/R016429/1). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/9156d263-4def-406d-bdc9-22a6821fe755

The datasets were collected during experiments undertaken to examine survival rates and larval performance of Speckled Wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) in different habitats (grassland and woodland). The experiments were carried out between 2008 and 2010 by the University of York, at sites in Yorkshire, Great Britain. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/ecb17680-da2e-49ae-b250-2d04a6a08d2a

Data are presented of enzymatic activity of soil collected from paired intensive and extensive grassland systems including low and high pH parent soils, from 32 sites across the United Kingdom. The samples were collected during winter and spring 2015-2016 by project staff experienced in soil core collection. Dry soil samples were analysed for a suit of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities. Fluorescently labeled substrates were used to enable the activity of the following enzymes to be measured. All analysis was carried out at CEH Wallingford. The data were collected to help understand soil functional change in a variety of management and climatic scenarios as part of NERC U-GRASS (Understanding and enhancing soil ecosystem services and resilience in UK grass and croplands) award (NERC Reference NE/M017125/1) part of the NERC Soil Security Programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/15026591-f803-4b18-a359-cd69ea0e6069

[This dataset is embargoed until May 31, 2024]. Saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density and soil organic carbon content were determined on soil samples extracted from the upper 50 cm of the soil profile for three paired upland woodland and grassland sites in northern England. The site pairs consisted of new deciduous plantation (<5 yrs old) and pasture, 15 year old deciduous plantation and pasture, and finally a site with mature deciduous woodland and pasture. Comparisons were made between woodland and pasture soil properties. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council Grant NE/R004595/1: Optimising Natural Flood risk Management (NFM) in headwater catchments to protect downstream communities. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/03bbb1a9-703b-484b-aa16-5924c11e1f2d

The data pertains to a single time point ‘snapshot’ spatial sampling of site characteristics, soil parameters and soil greenhouse gas emissions for two sites (Extensive and Intensive). The extensively managed site (‘Extensive’; 240-340 m above sea level; a.s.l.) consisted of an 11.5 ha semi-improved, sheep-grazed pasture at Bangor University’s Henfaes Research Station, Abergwyngregyn, North Wales (53°13’13’’N, 4°0’34’’W). The intensively managed site (‘Intensive’; on average 160 m a.s.l.) was a 1.78 ha sheep-grazed pasture located in south-west England, at the North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP), Rothamsted Research, Okehampton, Devon (50°46’10’’N, 30°54’05’’W). At the Extensive site soil and gas sampling was conducted on 30th November 2016. At the Intensive site soil and gas sampling was conducted on 1st August 2016. The data contains: site characteristics including elevation, slope, compound topographic index, vegetation type or manure application, and sample point grid references; soil parameters including soil bulk density, soil percentage water-filled pore space, soil moisture, soil organic matter contents, soil pH, soil nitrate nitrogen concentration, soil ammonium nitrogen concentration, soil percentage total carbon contents, soil percentage total nitrogen contents, and carbon to nitrogen content ratio; and soil greenhouse gas flux data for nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane. The study was conducted as a wider part of the NERC funded Uplands-N2O project and BBSRC-supported Rothamsted Research, North Wyke Farm Platform (Grant Nos: NE/M015351/1, NE/M013847/1, NE/M013154/1, BBS/E/C/000J0100, BBS/E/C/000I0320, BBS/E/C/000I0330). Quantifying the spatial and variability of the drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and their interactions in grazing systems is critical to improve our understanding of nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane fluxes, enabling better estimates of aggregated greenhouse gas emissions and associated uncertainties at the landscape scale. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f3118fa8-6bec-488b-9713-2415912b8b9e

This dataset contains measured daily values of precipitation, air and soil temperature, soil water content, measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) fluxes using eddy covariance, calculated gross primary production (GPP), terrestrial ecosystem respiration (TER) and net biome production (NBP) fluxes using an online tool (http://www.bgc-jena.mpg.de/~MDIwork/eddyproc/upload.php), measured fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide using static chambers and measured fluxes of nitrous oxide using eddy covariance, measured fluxes of nitrogen oxides (NOx) using automatic chambers, measured nitrogen and carbon leaching, livestock density, nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) input from mineral and organic fertiliser and yield of a managed grassland (Easterbush, 03°02'W, 55°52' N, 190 m a.s.l ) in South East Scotland. Data were collected between January 2002 and December 2010. Furthermore the dataset contains one off soil carbon and nitrogen data collected in 2004 and 2010. The dataset also contains monthly dry N deposition data from a field nearby Easterbush (about 300 m distance) measured with a DELTA system from 2002-2010. The data were collected as part of the three European projects GREENGRASS (EC EVK2-CT2001-00105), the NitroEurope Integrated Project (contract 017841) and CarboEurope (Contract No. GOCE-CT-2003-505572). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/7e6e6955-a9d7-4f8a-961e-3fa3d56d0ead

The dataset comprises of percentage plant cover by species observed by eye in a 1metre (m) x 1m quadrat. Measurements were recorded at six salt marsh sites at four spatial scales: 1 metre (m) (the minimal sampling unit) nested within a hierarchy of increasing scales of 1-10 m, 10-100 m and 100-1000 m. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England. Plant cover was measured during the winter and summer of 2013 for all six sites. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/90bdf4ff-03d9-4aa4-bcad-5139863ab188