This dataset contains botanical data from 13 calcareous grassland, 13 heathland and 12 woodland sites within Dorset, UK. The sites were selected to represent a range of habitat types across a condition gradient as measured by levels of degradation from the original habitat. The original habitats were identified as being calcareous grassland, heathland or woodland from a survey conducted in the 1930s. Within heathland and calcareous grassland sites the percentage cover of all plant species were recorded within five 1m quadrat squares. Plants were recorded to species level where possible, or genus where species level was not possible. Covers of bare ground and litter were also recorded. Within woodlands plots, sampling was done slightly differently to enable recording of ground level plants and species within multiple canopy levels. Cover and presence of all herbaceous species were recorded in 2m quadrat squares, cover of tree seedlings (<1.5 m height) were recorded in 5m quadrat squares and ground-level cover of trunk of tree species if necessary were recorded in 10m quadrat squares. Heathland and calcareous grassland sites were visited in summer 2017 and woodland sites were visited in summer 2018. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/8a75395f-7858-40a2-8364-eb3482aeaad1

This dataset contains data from the National Plant Monitoring Scheme in 2015. These consist of plant species occurrences, with abundance values, in plots. Plots are nested with 1 km squares, and are georeferenced according to the British/Irish/Channel Islands grid systems, or in latitude/longitude format; the 1 km squares surveyed were selected according to a weighted-random design, designed to enrich the sample for semi-natural habitats. Plots also have associated habitat and spatial information, as well as a small number of other environmental data. The species recorded in any particular plot are dependent on the habitat chosen for the plot by the surveyor, and the level of the scheme at which they were participating. Please see the references in the supporting documentation (survey guidance) for more information. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/33fe87f9-d45a-41ba-acca-ee8585ea6b7d

This web map shows positive plant habitat condition indicators across Great Britain (GB). This data provides a metric of plant diversity weighted by the species that you would expect and desire to have in a particular habitat type so indicates habitat condition. In each Countryside Survey 2007 area vegetation plot the number of positive plant habitat indicators (taken from a list created from Common Standards Monitoring Guidance and consultation with the Botanical society of the British Isles (BSBI)) for the habitat type in which the plot is located are counted. This count is then divided by the possible indicators for that habitat type (and multiplied by 100) to get a percentage value. This is extrapolated to 1km squares across GB using a generalised additive mixed model. Co-variables used in the model are Broad Habitat (the dominant broad habitat of the 1km square), air temperature, nitrogen deposition, sulphur deposition, precipitation and whether the plot is located in a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) (presence or absence data).

This dataset consists of vegetation abundance data from four experiments investigating the management of arable field options for rare plants. These experiments consisted of a margin management experiment, a herbicide screening experiment, a cereal headland experiment and a crop rotation experiment. All experiments were conducted between 2011 and 2014. The margin management experiment investigated the effects of different cultivation timing and methods and herbicide treatments on the vegetation species composition and abundance within arable field margins. The herbicide screening experiment investigated the effects of different herbicides and their timing of application on the condition of 15 species of rare arable plants. The cereal headland experiment investigated the effects of standard cereal sowing density versus reduced cereal sowing density, and of standard application of N fertilizer vs no application, on sown rare arable species and on the spontaneous weed flora of cereal stands. The crop rotation experiment was designed to provide baseline data for modelling population dynamics of rare arable species in relation to crop rotation scenarios. The data comes from a project funded by Defra (BD5204: Improving the management and success of arable plant options in ELS and HLS). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/4592780d-734f-4f62-9780-87afe27555d2

This dataset provides data on the timing of butterfly flight periods for each UK butterfly species across all monitored sites in the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS). Annual data from over 2,500 sites are presented relating to the timing (first appearance, last appearance, date of peak abundance and mean flight date) and the duration (total number of days, standard deviation around the mean flight date) of the flight period for all UK butterfly species from 1976 to the present year. In addition, this data is divided each year for eleven multi-voltine species to provide separate phenology data for distinct flight periods associated with first and subsequent generations. Phenology change is a widely used measure of the biological impacts of climate change because of the close relationship between temperature and the timing of biological events. This dataset provides an invaluable tool for assessing the impacts of climate change both spatially and temporally. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is organized and funded by Butterfly Conservation (BC), the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The UKBMS is indebted to all volunteers who contribute data to the scheme. 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. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/4bc7bb9f-4a7a-46ff-aa63-2747e248fd1e

Data comprises of the uptake of the plant nutrient phosphorus (P) by seven common and often co-occurring herbaceous plants grown in limestone grassland soil in pots. P uptake is from one of three different sources of P that were injected into the soil, with the P sources being labelled with radio-isotope 33P, such that uptake of this could be quantified by assessing the radioactivity of the plant tissue. The plant species were grown in pots as monocultures, and as mixed communities containing all seven species. The 33P labelled P sources that were injected into the soil were orthophosphate, DNA and calcium phosphate. Assessment of the amount of 33P taken up was undertaken by harvesting and analysing plant shoots six days after the 33P source was injected into the soil. The datasets contain biomass of the harvested plant material, its radioactivity as assessed by scintillation counting, and the calculated proportion of the 33P supplied that was taken up into plant shoots. The data also contains % cover abundance values of the plant species from surveys undertaken at Wardlow Hay Cop, the limestone grassland from where the soil was sourced on which the plants were grown for the 33P addition study. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/87cdc267-a8c7-4f59-83b4-1bceaae837ad

This dataset gives axiophyte score for plants in Great Britain, based on Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) published lists of axiophytes for 24 counties in Great Britain. Axiophytes have been defined as 'worthy plants', that is, species that are indicative of high quality habitat within a particular region. This information product takes the county lists that were available in May 2016, and summarises the data in order to produce national (i.e. Great Britain) level scores of 'axiophyte-ness'; that is, the extent to which a species has been selected as a good indicator of high quality habitat where it occurs. This meta-list of axiophytes will be updated in the future as more county-level lists become available. 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. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/af2ac4af-12c6-4152-8ed7-e886ed19622b

This web map service shows bee nectar plant richness across Great Britain . The source data uses counts of bee nectar plants in Countryside Survey area vegetation plots in 2007 and extrapolates to 1km squares across GB using a generalised additive mixed model. Co-variables used in the model are Broad Habitat (the dominant broad habitat of the 1km square), air temperature, nitrogen deposition, precipitation and altitude. The map has the following layers: plantCount = a modelled estimate of the count of all bee nectar plants within a 1km by 1km square, SEM = a measure of the variance of the plantCount attribute Understanding the distribution of bee nectar plants does provide valuable information on the potential distribution of pollinators and hence pollination.

This dataset consists of stock (area) data for Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Broad Habitats across Great Britain in 1978. Data are presented as areas of Broad (or Priority) Habitats within a set of 256 1km squares across Great Britain. 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 & 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 habitat areas, vegetation species data, soil data, linear habitat data, and freshwater habitat data are also gathered by Countryside Survey. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/86c017ba-dc62-46f0-ad13-c862bf31740e

Collated indices are a relative measure of butterfly abundance across sites monitored as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Data from all survey sites (standard UKBMS transects, Wider Countryside Survey transects and targeted species surveys such as timed, larval web and egg counts) are used in the calculation of these indices. The statistics are presented as log10 values. These values are centred round an arbitrary value of 2 as a mean for the time series in order to help show which years are below or above average. Collated indices are calculated annually for each individual butterfly species that has been recorded on five or more sites in that year. Indices are calculated at UK level and at individual country level for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where sufficient data are available. Based on this criterion, collated indices have been calculated for the entire time series from 1976 (UK, England and Wales), 1979 (Scotland) and 2004 (Northern Ireland) to the current year for the majority of species, but for some rarer species this has not been possible in some years, particular those in the first part of the time series. Collated indices are calculated using a log-linear model incorporating individual site indices from all monitored sites across the UK or country for a given species in a given year. The number of sites for each species ranges from 5 to several hundred or more and fluctuates from year to year. By 2010 almost 2,000 sites were monitored in total across the UK, with this number rising to more than 3,000 over the next decade. Collated indices are calculated so that we can determine how butterfly populations are changing over time across the UK. This data can be used, for example, to determine where to target conservation efforts and more generally the condition of the UK countryside. Butterflies are recognised as important indicators of biodiversity and environmental change, for example in UK and country Biodiversity Indicators, and have been used in numerous studies of the impacts of climate and habitat change on biodiversity. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is organized and funded by Butterfly Conservation (BC), the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The UKBMS is indebted to all volunteers who contribute data to the scheme. 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. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/657a64b2-8c34-43d2-a0f0-662ddf73c720