This dataset consists of metal concentrations (aluminium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, titanium and zinc) measured from soils sampled across Great Britain in 2007. 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 soil data, habitat areas, vegetation species 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/10.5285/826b0829-7ab5-4e22-822f-ee3a137896a9

Data comprise bracken biomass, soil and bracken chemistry (for example mass, bulk density, pH, carbon, nitrogen and the concentration of a range of other elements) precipitation, percentage ground cover of plant species and site information. Samples were collected between 21st July and 6th August 2014 at 49 plots in the English lake district and Snowdonia in Wales. Plots were located in stands with minimum 80% bracken cover and which had not been trampled by grazing animals. The study was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council under the Macronutrient Cycling Research Programme, as part of the Long-Term, Large-Scale (LTLS) project (Grant no. NE/J011533/1), and by the University of Liverpool (Grant no. NE/J011630/1). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/5b89d8f3-86f0-431c-844f-eda5ddae9042