Environmental monitoring results: Burbage temperature

Another one of our monitoring sites is Burbage. Volunteers have collected environmental monitoring data here since 2015. As the frosty season starts, let's look at the monthly and seasonal temperatures and see how they have varied over the past couple of years.

Thanks to Andy Burn for producing these graphs, and thanks to our volunteers for getting out in all weather!

Environmental monitoring results: Holme humidity

In our last post we showed the temperature variation at Holme Moss and how this changes monthly and across the seasons. Another variable that our volunteers measure on site is the relative humidity (level of moisture in the air). The following graphs show how this varies monthly, yearly, and seasonally.

Special thanks to Andy Burn for producing these graphs.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

...11 bags for brashing,

 

One of the first stages in the bare peat re-vegetation process carried out by Moors for the Future Partnership, is to spread chopped heather - known as 'brash' - on to the peat surface. After being flown to site by helicopter in one tonne bags (such as those pictured), the brash is spread by hand to form a lattice over the surface. The contents of each bag should cover about 50 square metres when spread. The brash forms a barrier to reduce erosion from weather, and also contains the seeds of heather and any other plants present when it was cut, plus moss fragments and spores. The brash layer is crucial in stabilising the peat surface. Without it, seeds would be washed away before they had chance to germinate.

 10 geese migrating,

 

 

9 plants a-pluggin',

 

 

8 Sphagna growing,

 

 

7 sites now set up,

 

 

 

6 leaves a-prickling,

 

 

5 red deer!

 

 

4 hare prints,

 

 

3 lizards,

 

 

 

2 mating toads,

 

and a bilberry bumblebee!

 

Storm Angus

The UK was battered by rain and high winds in November this year as a storm named 'Angus' made an appearance.

Angus hit the south of England during the 19^th and 20^th of November, but it wasn't until the day after when the heavy rains had moved north and reached the Peak District and South Pennines, that we were able to record the storm.

This blog post looks at how the equipment installed on our Community Science environmental monitoring sites reacted to this event. 

Volunteers collect information from these sites each month, and use the same equipment and methods as Moors for the Future science team do on other sites where conservation works have taken place. In this case though, we're interested in capturing long-term climate datasets on sites where conservation works haven't taken place.

The bar chart below shows how much rain fell on each of our five sites over four days:

Click on the image to see a larger version

Marsden had the most consistent rainfall with 71.2 mm recorded across the four days. Despite Holme only recording rainfall on the second couple of days of the storm (21st and 22nd), it received the second highest amount, with 73 mm in total. The Roaches had 45.6 mm over the four days and Edale had a surprisingly small 33.6 mm. Out in front was Burbage Moor, which recorded a total of 78mm over the 4 days, with nearly 70% of this falling on Monday 21st.

So how did all this water behave once it reached the ground? The line graph below shows how the water table on the sites changed over the days around the storm. The 'zero' mark on the left hand axis represents ground level, and each line shows how close to the surface the water was (in metres) over the four days of the 'official' storm, and a couple of days afterwards.

Click on the image to see a larger version

We can't be certain what is happening here, but from a quick look at the graph we could surmise that despite having less rainfall than the other sites the water table at Edale (the driest of the sites) increased the most, jumping up by around 10 cm, before rapidly decreasing again as water drained away. 

The Roaches water table also had a sharp increase, however as the water on the site is consistently close to the surface, it only increased to around ground level - but then seemed to stay there, possibly because the site has plenty of Sphagnum moss, and clay underlying the peat layer. 

On the Holme site the water was also already close to the surface, and despite having very high rainfall, the water table didn’t change dramatically, or as quickly. 

Marsden did show an increase in water table - but it was gradual and the new higher level was maintained in the days after the storm event. The site is very flat and also contains Sphagnum moss among its vegetation, which could perhaps help to explain this pattern. 

The site which had the most rainfall (Burbage) also showed a small response - the water was almost at surface level; and you can see it even exceeds zero, forming a puddle! This is another very flat site and does have some Sphagnum moss present. 

The complexity of  hydrological data - taking into account the many variables which can affect the way water behaves on a site - means that we cannot draw any firm conclusions just yet. However, our volunteers will be analysing our environmental data in more depth in the near future...

Graphs and text by volunteer Mollie Hunt, and the CSP team....

A celebration of the rowan tree

For National Tree Week, Community Science project officer Tom Aspinall has written a blog to celebrate the rowan...

Every time I see a rowan tree my love for them grows! They truly are one of the most stunning trees that we have in Great Britain.

There’s also so much to learn about them beyond their obvious aesthetic beauty...

Of all the trees growing in our country, the rowan is the one able to grow at the highest altitudes. This explains one half of its other common name – the mountain ash. You can walk in the mountains of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales and find rowan trees growing in the most obscure places such as rocky outcrops and cliff faces – they really are a hardy tree. However, they are a pioneer species and as a result are short-lived and often relatively small, usually reaching a maximum height of 10-15 metres.

The second half of the other common name comes from the close resemblance of their leaves to those of the ash tree. This is another of our stunning native species, but one which favours lower lands than the rowan. The leaves of both these species are compound and pinnate, meaning they are made up of several leaflets in pairs along the main leaf stem with one at the tip, as can be seen in the image of a rowan leaf below.

Whilst these leaves are distinctive, it is the beautiful clusters of small cream flowers that then turn to scarlet red berries that really make the rowan stand out from the crowd. The flowers are a great source of nectar and pollen for pollinating insects such as bumblebees, and the berries are a valuable source of food for many species of birds including thrushes and waxwings. There is no greater sight than seeing a flock of waxwings feeding on the berries of a rowan tree in late autumn.

Illustration (c) Chris Shields

 Ecologically, the rowan is a very important tree in our countryside - but it also has strong cultural significance - in no small part due to the vivid red colouration of those berries. The colour red has long been thought of as the colour to ward off evil and so rowan trees were once planted near houses to keep evil spirits away. Its Celtic name – ‘fid na ndruad' – means ‘wizard’s tree’.

Names can tell us many things, and with all species of animals and plants it’s worth trying to learn and understand the scientific name to gain further insight into the history of a species. Rowan’s scientific name is Sorbus aucuparia with ‘aucuparia’ being derived from the words ‘avis’ for birds and ‘capere’ for catching, describing the use of rowan trees as bait to lure in birds to be caught.

The rowan is one of four plants associated with the uplands that volunteers have been monitoring as part of our ‘Buds, Berries and Leaves’ survey. This survey records the timing of natural events (such as bud burst, flowering, fruiting and leaf fall) over the long term, to see if they are changing.

In this way we hope to be able to monitor the effects of climate change on the vegetation of the uplands. If you’re interested in contributing to important climate change data by walking a regular route and recording what you see, then please have a look on our website for more details: http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/community-science/berries-buds-and-leaves


I hope you’ll agree that rowan truly is a jewel of our countryside and definitely a tree worth appreciating.

Top tips for entering our photography competition

Here are 6 top tips for those thinking of entering our 'Water in the Uplands' photo competition: http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/community-science/competition

1.  Slow the flow

Reduce your camera’s shutter speed to catch the dreamy effect of water in flow. 

A tripod is a handy piece of kit to keep your camera steady, but alternatively use a small bean bag or even a folded up jumper to sit your camera on. 

Use the self-timer function so you can go hands free, ensuring the camera doesn’t move while it’s recording the shot.


2. Beauty in the details


Look more closely at water and you’ll be amazed by some of the little details to be found.

Capture bubbles below a waterfall, reflections in puddles and get really close to discover the world of water droplets.










3. Water in the landscape


Consider the wider landscape and make water a part of the bigger picture.

Think how it has shaped its surroundings whether naturally or by the addition of man-made structures like bridges and weirs.





4. Go abstract

There’s so much potential for creating abstract images of water.

Create patterns from a flowing waterfall or focus on ripples in a calm pool.














5.  Winter wonderland

Winter is a great time to photograph water as the cold takes hold to create ice and snow.

Get out early after a cold night and capture incredible ice formations clinging to plants and rocks.

Alternatively take a break from sledging after a big snowfall and capture incredible winter scenery.







6.  Life giving water

There are many plant and animal species that rely on the habitats provided by the water in our uplands.

Capture beautiful creatures in their watery homes or look at plants like Sphagnum mosses that keep our blanket bogs saturated.

Tom Aspinall

Autumn cloud inversions

Autumn is a fantastic time of year to witness some stunning scenery and landscapes - and perhaps one of the very best sights is a cloud inversion:

Above is the view of Edale valley from Mam Nick yesterday. Inversions like this need specific conditions to form. They are most likely to be seen in early morning when a layer of saturated cold air becomes trapped underneath a layer of warmer air higher up the valley sides.

The inversion was still visible from Kinder Scout later yesterday morning as Community Science volunteers headed to the Environmental Monitoring site:

Looking back towards Edale - Rob Westrick

Remnants of cloud still visible in Edale from higher up the hill - Rob Westrick

From the plateau cloud could be seen still clinging to the Hope Valley in the middle distance; while the crystal clear upper layers of air allowed a stunning view for miles:

View from Kinder - Richard Walker