This set of conservation biological control experiments data was collected as part of five field experiments investigating agricultural biological control techniques, particularly the effect of wild field margins on pests and predators. The study is part of the NERC Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. Despite the widespread concerns regarding the use of pesticides in food production and the availability of potentially viable biological pest control strategies in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems, the UK cereal crop production remains a bastion of pesticide use. This project aimed to understand further the reasons for this lack of adoption, using the control of summer cereal aphids as a case study. Reasons for this lack of adoption of biocontrol remain a complex interplay of both technical and economic problems. Economists highlight the potential path dependency of an industry to continue to employ a suboptimal technology, caused by past dynamics of adoption resulting in differential private cost structures of each technique. Further, risk aversion on the part of farmers regarding the perceived efficacy of a new technology may also limit up-take. This may be particularly important when IPM rests on portfolios of technologies and when little scientific understanding exists on the effect of portfolio and scale of adoption on overall efficacy. Faced with this, farmers will not adopt a socially superior IPM technology and there exists a clear need for public policy action. This action may take the form of minimising uncertainty through carefully designed research programs, government funding and dissemination of the results of large-scale research studies or direct public support for farm landscape and farm system changes that can promote biocontrol. This research looked at alternatives to the use of insecticides in arable agriculture and the difficulties facing producers in switching over to them. Two approaches were explored: habitat manipulations, to encourage predators and parasites, and using naturally occurring odours to manipulate predator distribution as model technologies. Scale and portfolio effects on biocontrol efficacy have been investigated in controlled and field scale experiments. Aim is to improve the way research and development of new products and techniques are carried out to help break the dependence on chemical pesticides. 'Semiochemical experiment data, 2005-2009 - RELU Re-bugging the system: promoting adoption of alternative pest management strategies in field crop systems' from this same research project are also available. In addition, socio-economic research has been used to help direct natural science research into the development and evaluation of a combination of habitat management and semiochemical push-pull strategies of appropriate scale and complementarity to yield viable, commercially attractive and sustainable alternatives to the use of insecticides in cereal crop agriculture. These socio-economic data are available through the UK Data Archive under study number 6960 (see online resources). Further information and documentation for this study may be found through the RELU Knowledge Portal and the project's ESRC funding award web page (see Supplemental).

These data are algal production values in eight Welsh upland rivers with contrasting land-use, moorland and exotic conifer, in response to riparian deciduous leaf addition. Eight sampling reaches were chosen at two sites, Llyn Brianne (4 reaches) and Plynlimon (4 reaches). The experiment consisted of adding deciduous leaves to half of the reaches whilst the other half were maintained as a control (no addition of deciduous leaves). In order to characterise the algal production of the studied streams, algal biofilm samples were collected from tiles previously placed, during January 2013 (before deciduous leaf addition) and March 2013 (after deciduous leaf addition) in each sampling reach. The main goal of this survey was to examine how aquatic biodiversity and organic matter stocks respond to deciduous leaf addition in moorland and conifer forested rivers. Dr Isabelle Durance was responsible for organising the surveys, Dr Hugh Feeley, Dr Anne-Laure Sauvadet and Marian Pye were in charge of collecting, processing and sorting the samples. The work was carried out under Diversity in Upland Rivers for Ecosystem Service Sustainability (DURESS) project (Grant reference NERC NE/J014818/1). DURESS was a project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f13b0975-6af4-4315-9e4f-63a1cb4bd796

Palaeoecological proxy data (pollen, non-pollen palynomorph (NPP), micro-charcoal, macro-charcoal, loss-on-ignition (LOI) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF)) recovered from lake sediments, cliff exposures, surface soils and moss pollsters within the eastern Andean cloud forest of Ecuador. Palaeoecological proxy data were recovered from lake sediments, surface soil and moss pollsters within the eastern Andean cloud forest of Ecuador. Materials and proxy data were collected with the aim of understanding how ecosystem dynamics were driven by anthropogenic, physical and climatic impact through time (late Quaternary). Here, data are provided for pollen, non-pollen palynomorph (NPP), micro-charcoal, macro-charcoal, loss-on-ignition (LOI) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF). Field samples were collected throughout 2012-2013 from the Napo province of Ecuador and analysed in the laboratory throughout 2014-2015 at The Open University (UK). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/952e8ddb-b573-44ad-a930-2c8c5164a381

These data consist of stream water chemistry for selected Welsh upland rivers. The sampling sites were located in sixty one small and medium catchments. Catchments were chosen from the Welsh Acid Water Surveys (WAWS) program (41 sites) and the Wye catchment (20 sites). Results for pH, alkalinity, conductivity and major cation and anion measurements are presented for the WAWS catchments. Results for pH, alkalinity, conductivity and major anion measurements are presented for the Wye catchment. Samples from the Wye catchment were collected in May 2012. Samples from the WAWS catchments were taken during the summer and autumn of 2012 and spring and summer of 2013. The data were collected to characterise water chemistry variation along a gradient of aquatic biodiversity associated with different environmental settings for example land-use intensify and recovery from acidification. Dr Isabelle Durance was responsible for organising the surveys, Dr Hugh Feeley was in charge of collecting and preserving the water samples. Analysis of the water samples was carried out at the Forest Research Laboratories. The work was carried out under Diversity in Upland Rivers for Ecosystem Service Sustainability (DURESS) project (Grant reference NERC NE/J014818/1). DURESS was a project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d329ca18-c3d8-49f0-b2fd-5243d76dc650

The dataset contains abundance data of airborne pollen (including Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal-grass), Arrhenatherum elatius (false oat-grass), Cynosurus cristatus (crested dog's-tail), Dactylis glomerata (cock's-foot), Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass), Phleum pratense (Timothy), Poa pratensis (smooth meadow-grass), grass species within the genera Alopecurus/Agrostis, and one probe that was found to be degenerate and unable to discriminate grass species. Here we used qPCR to track the seasonal progression of airborne grass pollen, in time and space. To do this we collected aerial samples from thirteen sites across the UK during the pollen seasons (May to September) of 2016 and 2017. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/28208be4-0163-45e6-912c-2db205126925

This data resource provides plot-level plant occurrence data for the first seven years (2015-2021) of the National Plant Monitoring Scheme (covering the UK, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man). Data consist of individual observations of plants, and other habitat characteristics, at the metre-scale; observations are accompanied by percentage cover information recorded according to the Domin frequency-abundance scale commonly used in plant community ecology. Other information provided includes the plot type (size, shape, according to the NPMS classification), the volunteer-recorded NPMS habitat, the date of sampling, and information regarding the spatial location of the plot. Information contained within the metadata file should allow users to reconstruct the sampling history (including gaps) of any plot that has been sampled within the NPMS scheme between 2015 and 2021. This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability. Please be aware that this dataset is updated annually and that more recent versions exist. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/e742c94f-82a4-43e7-af14-36b131afe81b

This dataset includes dissolved organic radiocarbon content and dissolved organic carbon concentration data for river waters around the globe. The riverine dataset contains already published (n=1163) and new (n=101) data between the years 1962 and 2015. Soil solution data (n=139) from North American and European natural and semi-natural ecosystems are also included, which cover the period 1988 to 2008. Groundwater data containing 49 data points from boreholes in Europe and North America are also provided. Extra data including sampling dates, locations, stable isotope (13C), water quality and qualitative descriptions of the catchments are included in the dataset. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/06b219a8-b3ff-4db7-870a-4b1038ff53e2

The data comprise water quality measurements taken from streams and rivers in the Conwy catchment and its estuary from March 2013 to October 2016. Depending on water type and sampling location the data consist of concentrations of major cations and anions, pH, conductivity, alkalinity, suspended material and coliforms. Samples were collected manually or by automatic sampler. Analysis was carried out at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) Bangor, CEH Lancaster and Bangor University laboratories. The data were collected provide information on the relationship between stream water quality, primarily macronutrient concentrations, and catchment and hydrological characteristics. The data are used to drive a catchment scale water quality model, and to investigate nutrient ratios and limitation with respect to land cover and management. All sampling and analysis was carried out by trained members of staff from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Bangor University. This data was assembled under the NERC project 'The Multi-Scale Response of Water quality, Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration to Coupled Macronutrient Cycling from Source to Sea' (Turf2Surf). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/32392c33-8cbe-434a-a582-ab8425a5062c

This dataset contains physical, chemical and ecological data collected between 2018-2019 at the deepest point of Elterwater’s inner basin. Profiles of chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, and light and Secchi disk extinction depth were collected at weekly scale during the stratified period and fortnightly/monthly timescale outside of this period. Water temperature profiles were collected at 15-minute intervals, and hourly averaged. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Grant NE/L002604/1). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/37f17f6c-66f6-454c-bd52-7c601ef20ca2

Vascular plant and bryophyte survey data from a 33-year chronosequence on bare chalk, used to investigate primary succession. The bare chalk plots were created from archaeological excavations on Down Farm, north Dorset, between the years 1986 and 2018, resulting in 13 different plots. The vascular plant survey was carried out in July 2019 using 50 cm x 50 cm quadrats. Quadrats were recorded every 1 m along a 16 m transect in each of the 13 plots. The bryophyte survey was carried out in February 2020 using 20 cm x 20 cm quadrats, along the same transects for 11 of the 13 plots. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/358eb380-74a0-4acd-9df2-696fdf13a6d7