| Description
The Cairngorms site, which joined the ECN network in summer 1999, is located high in the Cairngorms, near Aviemore in Speyside. The site lies on the western flank of the Cairngorms and is the catchment of the Allt a' Mharcaidh (a site in the ECN freshwater network). It is part of the Cairngorms National Nature Reserve, within the Cairngorms National Park, and covers some 10 km2. The site is sponsored by a consortium of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and Macaulay Institute (MI). ECN monitoring at the site is co-ordinated by CEH. This is the first ECN site in the UK's sub-arctic zone and is an important link not only to other upland ECN sites but to sites in the Alps and Pyrenees (GLORIA network) and also to networks in the Arctic (SCANNET network). The site is ideally placed to monitor changes in: Tree colonisation - Mature trees (principally Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris) at the site are confined to a relatively small part of the lower ground and there has been no significant regeneration over the last two centuries due to heavy grazing by deer, and burning. However,a reduction in deer grazing began nearly 20 years ago and colonisation by saplings is now widespread;
Climate change - The site straddles the zones of increasing winter precipitation and decreasing summer precipitation. There is also evidence of increasing windiness;
Hydrology - This is one of the longest recorded snow sites in the UK and is also a complete gauged catchment;
Pollution - Levels of air, water and soil pollution at the site are relatively low compared to other parts of the UK, and the site therefore provides a good control area;
Vegetation change - There is an excellent altitudinal sequence of communities, from Caledonian pine woodland at 300 m up to arctic-alpine vegetation at 1100 m. The Cairngorms site has been used intensively for research since the 1970s. An Automatic Weather Station (AWS) has been operating at the site since 1984 and was used in the Surface Water Acidification Programme from 1984 to 1994. CEH and MI have used the site for long-term hydrological and snow studies for about 15 years. From 1997-1999 it was one of the ECOMONT (land use change in mountain areas of Europe) sites. Researchers at several universities and institutes use the site for vegetation, soils and nutrient cycling studies. The site forms part of the larger Feshie catchment in the NICHE programme (National Infrastructure for Catchment Hydrology Experiments). |
