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IntroductionPartnershipsPolicyScience
Monitoring, data and research to understand environmental change
We are the UK's long-term environmental monitoring and research programme. For over 20 years we have made regular measurements of air, soil, water and a range of animals and plants across a network of sites to determine how and why the natural environment is changing.
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IntroductionSciencePartnershipsPolicy
Understanding environmental change. Supporting environmental science
Our data are used to detect and understand trends in the environment and in the presence and abundance of plants and animals. We support researchers by providing long-term environmental datasets and well-instrumented sites for field research.
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IntroductionSciencePolicyPartnerships
Science to support policymaking and management of natural resources
ECN’s data and expertise are relevant to a range of environmental policy issues including climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. Long-term monitoring can inform policies and check how well they work.
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IntroductionSciencePolicyPartnerships
An active consortium with links across the globe
ECN is a partnership of UK organisations responsible for environmental policies and natural resource management. We also work with similar networks in other countries. ECN is the UK node of ILTER, the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network.
Feature
The pan-European eLTER Research Infrastructure (eLTER RI), has been included on the ESFRI 2018 roadmap, a significant achievement for the European ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research communities that paves the way for the further development and formalization of eLTER RI.
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Featured Publication
Modelling study of soil C, N and pH response to air pollution and climate change using European LTER site observations
Featured site: Scoat Tarn
Scoat Tarn in the English Lake District is a typical mountain corrie lake, being small and deep with an area of 5.2 ha and a maximum depth of 20 m. The lake lies in a west facing valley at an altitude of 602 m, and drains into Wastwater via the Nether Beck. The catchment comprises a small corrie (95 ha) with steeply sloping walls and three summits in excess of 825 m. The bedrock is Ordivician tuff (undifferentiated) of the Borrowdale Volcanic series and the local soils are mainly shallow, peaty rankers. The eastern slopes are mainly of rock and boulders while to the north are less steep and covered in rough grass and Sphagnum moss. Land use is confined to low intensity sheep grazing. Scoat Tarn has been shown by palaeoecological assessment to have acidified severely as a direct result of human-induced acid deposition. Monitoring by the UK Upland Waters Monitoring Network shows the site is now in the process of chemical recovery, with a substantial decline in inorganic aluminium and a slight increase in pH over the last two decades.
