Publications

Introduction. This study investigated the ecology of Petalophyllum ralfsii in an oceanic dune system, including relationships with grazing livestock, hydrology and habitat restoration.Methods. The study site was two large slacks at Newborough Warren, NW Wales, UK. In areas of one slack, there are 6-yr-old ‘restoration scrapes’, where vegetation was stripped to restore early successional habitat. Since 2001, both slacks have had continuous conservation grazing, primarily by ponies. Locations of P. ralfsii were recorded using high-precision GPS. Vegetation was recorded by relevés and hydrology investigated from dipwell data.Results. Petalophyllum ralfsii was recorded at 1322 locations, mostly along pony trails, but also in sparsely vegetated depressions and restoration scrapes. The most frequent associates were Carex flacca, Didymodon tophaceus, Equisetum variegatum and Ptychostomum pseudotriquetrum. Wetter locations could be flooded for prolonged periods in some winters. Drier locations did not flood at all during the five winters of the study. Within occupied 5 × 5 m grid cells, vertical range of locations was no more than 16 cm. Locations in restoration scrapes are confined to areas where the water table is relatively high.Conclusions. Livestock grazing had a major positive impact on P. ralfsii. Trampling along pony trails provided competitive release and, due to greater soil bulk density, prolonged water availability at the surface. Ponies likely provided directed dispersal into suitable microhabitats via transport of diaspores on their hooves. Restoration scrapes have been colonised by P. ralfsii, but the population is small, likely related, at least in part, to water availability.

Water resources data for the 1994 water year for Idaho consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; discharge of irrigation diversions; and water levels and water quality of groundwater. The two volumes of this report contain discharge records for 191 stream-gaging stations and 36 irrigation diversions; stage only records for 4 stream-gaging stations; stage only for 9 lakes and reservoirs; contents only for 23 lakes and reservoirs; water-quality for 67 stream-gaging stations, 444 wells, and 6 lakes sites; daily totals for 1 precipitation gage; and water levels for 553 observation wells. Additional water data were collected at various sites not involved in the systematic data collection program and are published as miscellaneous measurements.

The ecosystem service potential of urban green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly appreciated, yet its underpinning role in the food-energy-water-habitat (FEWH) nexus is unclear. In order to explore the positive and negative impacts of GI on the FEWH nexus, this study asked three questions: 1) What are the research hotspots in FEWH for GI and what are the trends over time? 2) What ecosystem services can GI provide in terms of FEWH? 3) Can we quantify the ecosystem service potential of GI, and what are the synergies and trade-offs among the service types? By collating the research evidence which supports the ecosystem service potential of GI to contribute to FEWH, we developed a matrix to score the potential and to assess the synergies and trade-offs among ecosystem services. From this, a conceptual framework of the role of GI in supporting the FEWH nexus was developed. The results show that the potential of GI to sustain the FEWH nexus is significant and that multi-functional GI planning is necessary to minimise the trade-offs between them. This requires the application of new methods, theories, adaptation to new circumstances, and the development of appropriate business models within the planning domain, as well as compliance with policy directions and funding externally.

Abstract The European Union has a long‐term objective to achieve healthy soils by 2050. The European Commission has proposed a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law, SML), the first stage of which is to focus on setting up a soil monitoring framework and assessing soils throughout the EU. Situated in NW Europe, the UK has substantial experience in soil monitoring over the last half century which may usefully contribute to this wider EU effort. A set of overarching principles have and continue to guide design of national soil monitoring and may prove helpful as other European countries embark on similar monitoring programmes. Therefore, we present the principles of design from five decades of national soil monitoring. The monitoring discussed is based on a stratified‐random design, has matured in support of policy questions, and operates over space and time scales relevant to the SML. The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) Countryside Surveys (CS) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Welsh Government, Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring and Modelling Programme (ERAMMP) and the England Ecosystem Survey (EES) monitoring programme are national programmes currently operating in the UK. Some important lessons learnt include: adopting a question‐based approach; having a clear robust statistical design for the purpose; selecting indicators that address policy and underlying scientific questions; and selecting indicators that can detect change and use robust and well‐tested methodologies across a wide range of soil and land use types, remaining valid over long time scales, supporting thinking long‐term. Technical lessons learned include the proven cost effectiveness of a stratified‐random design including replication, while adopting a common stratification layer of stable environmental attributes aids comparability between monitoring programmes. Common protocols are vital for future intercomparisons, but a full ecosystem approach that includes co‐located soil and vegetation samples for interpreting a co‐evolving system has proved hugely advantageous. UK monitoring programmes offer a range of experience that may prove valuable to future soil monitoring design to address the major societal challenges of our time, such as maintaining food production and addressing climate change and biodiversity loss.

• Cultural background and childhood experiences shape engagement with greenspaces. • Transnational perspectives influence how people perceive and adapt to UK greenspaces. • Cultural considerations, perceived exclusion and gender mediate experience and engagement. • Peer-led walking groups can increase greenspace confidence and knowledge. • Physical environment upgrades like zoning and wash facilities offer culturally specific benefits. Greenspaces provide multiple wellbeing and social benefits, yet ethnic minorities often have restricted engagement with these spaces which reinforces health inequalities. Addressing these requires a detailed understanding of the diversity of ethnic minorities’ perceptions, preferences, and practices relating to greenspaces. Through thematic analysis of interview and diary transcripts from 53 people from multiple ethnic minority groups in Bristol, UK, we identify various ways in which ethnicity and culture influence engagement with greenspaces. We find that cultural background and childhood experiences are particularly important in shaping attitudes towards greenspaces; transnational perspectives originating from cultural heritage and familial history influence how people perceive and adapt to UK greenspace conditions; and cultural considerations, perceived exclusion, and gender combine with intersectional identities to mediate experiences and engagement patterns. We draw from a novel integration of theoretical work on affordances with practices to theorise and synthesise these findings, contributing to understanding how cultural and social factors shape greenspace use. Our findings suggest that structured access initiatives, such as peer-led walking groups, and physical environment modifications, including zoning and washing facilities, can enhance the cultural inclusivity of greenspaces while addressing systemic barriers to engagement. These insights offer practical guidance for urban planners and greenspace managers seeking to create more equitable and inclusive spaces that reflect and serve increasingly diverse communities.

Abstract. Questions: Does the increased atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, which can have major effects on the established vegetation of nutrient‐poor habitats, also impact germination from the soil seed bank? Location: Coastal dune slacks at Newborough Warren, Wales, UK. Methods: The effects of nitrogen addition (15 kg.ha ‐1 .a ‐1 ) on seed germination from the soil seed bank were investigated using the seedling emergence method between September 2004 and February 2005. Results: More seedlings emerged from fertilised samples than unfertilised controls. Most species showed enhanced germination after fertilisation with nitrogen, with seedling numbers statistically significantly greater in nitrogen addition samples in a quarter of species abundant enough for analysis. Species that responded positively to fertilisation were species with low Ellenberg indicator values indicative of infertile sites. Conclusions: Most species showed increased germination after fertilisation with nitrogen, including early successional species normally growing in nutrient‐poor conditions. This suggests that the increased atmospheric deposition of nitrogen probably not only impacts on established vegetation, but also has the potential to alter seed bank dynamics.

There is growing interest in the role that natural capital plays in underpinning ecosystem services. Yet, there remain differences and inconsistencies in the conceptualisation of capital and ecosystem services and the role that humans play in their delivery. Using worked examples in a stocks and flows systems approach, we show that both natural capital (NC) and human-derived (produced, human, social, cultural, financial) capital (HDC) are necessary to create ecosystem services at many levels. HDC plays a role at three stages of ecosystem service delivery. Firstly, as essential elements of a combined social-ecological system to create a potential ecosystem service. Secondly, through the beneficiaries in shaping the demand for that service. Thirdly, in the form of additional capital required to realise the ecosystem service flow. We show that it is possible, although not always easy, to separately identify how these forms of capital contribute to ecosystem service flow. We discuss how applying a systems approach can help identify critical natural capital and critical human-derived capital to guide sustainable management of the stocks and flows of all forms of capital which underpin provision of multiple ecosystem services. The amount of realised ecosystem service can be managed in several ways: via the NC & HDC which govern the potential service, and via factors which govern both the demand from the beneficiaries, and the efficiency of use of the potential service by those beneficiaries.