ECN Sites: Trout Beck

Sponsoring organisation(s)

Site Characteristics

* calculated from the ECN database

Description

The Trout Beck is a headwater stream of the Tees which drains Great Dun Fell, Hard Hill and Knock Fell in the North Pennines. The ECN sampling point (Grid Ref NY758335) is at 535m altitude and the catchment above this covers 1146 ha, rising to 848m altitude. The geology is alternating strata of Carboniferous limestones, sandstone and shales. Blanket peat covers 90% of the catchment with skeletal soils towards the fell tops and small areas of limestone soils and alluvial soils. Vegetation is dominated by ling heather (Calluna vulgaris), cotton grass (Eriophorum spp) and Sphagnum moss. The catchment lies in Moor House National Nature Reserve which is owned by English Nature. Discharge is measured at a Compound Crump Gauging Station operated by the Environment Agency. The pH of Trout Beck averages 6.2 although there are wide fluctuations associated with the discharge. The site has a long history of ecological research.

Trout Beck was the first ECN Freshwater Site to be co-located with an ECN Terrestrial site. Its catchment is entirely within the Moor House-Upper Teesdale Terrestrial Site. For more information see Moor House - Upper Teesdale.

Related Links

• Photographic Archive of Moor House/Trout Beck: Each week a digital photo of the Trout Beck at Moor House is taken and kept in an archive as a record of conditions at the site.
• The Moor House - Upper Teesdale Research Information Forum is a web forum where researchers and research users can exchange information about the ECN Site. For a user name and password contact John Adamson.

Mr Rob Rose & Ms Bev Dodd

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster, Lancs, LA1 4AP
rjr@ceh.ac.uk & bado@ceh.ac.uk