Environmental monitoring results: Edale rainfall

In our last post we showed the water table data and how this changes by month and season. One big factor contributing to these changes is of course rainfall. Here we have the monthly and seasonal rainfall averages for the last 4 years.

With the rainy season just around the corner, will we be in for another wet winter? Or will it be one of the drier ones? Our volunteers will be out this week starting the annual dipwell campaign, adding to our dataset so we can follow trends across time.

Big thanks again to volunteer Andy Burn for producing these graphs.

Environmental monitoring results: Edale water table

In our last post we showed the monthly and seasonal average (mean) air temperatures collected by Community Science volunteers from our Edale environmental monitoring site, which is situated at about 605m above sea level on Kinder Scout.

Another variable which volunteers monitor at the same site is the water table depth - i.e. how far beneath the peat surface water sits. Thanks again to Andy Burn for producing these graphs which summarise water table depth figures for 2016 and 2017 by month and by season:

Environmental monitoring results: Edale temperature

Over the next few weeks, we'll post a series of blogs showing some of the results for our Community Science monitoring sites in graphical format.

We'll start with here temperature information collected from our Edale site on Kinder Scout  - which shows monthly as well a seasonal averages across the years of monitoring so far.

Huge thanks to volunteer Andy Burn for producing these graphs:

 

 

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

...7 sites now set up,

 

Community Science volunteers have now set up and are monitoring seven 'eco-lab' sites across the South Pennine Moors and beyond. Edale, Black Hill, Marsden, Burbage, Chatsworth, Roaches and Holcombe Moor are now regularly having detailed information about their vegetation and climate collected. These long-term datasets will allow our volunteer scientists to see how the sites are changing over time in response to climate change.

6 leaves a-prickling,

 

5 red deer!

 

4 hare prints, 

 

3 lizards,

 

 

2 mating toads,

 

and a bilberry bumblebee!

 

Making conservation engaging - a volunteer view

Guest blog post by volunteer Jackie Wragg

A crucial part of any conservation effort is public engagement. Over the summer I have volunteered with Moors for the Future Partnership to aid them in this effort. Is my motivation totally selfless? Not at all. Although I take great fulfilment from raising awareness and inspiring people to value the habitats and rally for the cause it isn’t the only benefit. It’s the invaluable experience to hopefully lead me into my future career in a rewarding role in conservation. This experience is the key to my dream job!

Comma butterfly photograped at Longshaw Estate

The unaccommodating yet spendid Green Leafhopper!

Over the summer Moors for the Future Partnership performed a “takeover” of the Moorland Discovery Centre at the Longshaw Estate every Thursday. Volunteering here gave me the opportunity to set up and run a range of activities many of which were aimed at engaging children in the different species that can be found in our local uplands.

The staff are so appreciative of the help and keen to listen to new ideas and put them into practise. The chance to be part of a team setting up an engaging experience for members of the public is something I would not have access to without volunteering. Not to mention the chance to take children out on a bug hunt in the surrounding area and the opportunity for a spot of wildlife photography at the same time. I have developed a serious obsession with getting the perfect picture of the beautiful yet unaccommodating Green Leafhopper (Cicadella viridis) thanks to seeing so many of them during my time at the Moorland Discovery Centre. They’re so quick it’s almost impossible to capture their splendidness on camera!

In addition to this “Bogfest”; an event I was truly proud to be a part of. I was chosen to provide a port-of-call for visitors to this international gathering in partnership with the IUCN at the Moors for the Future Stall. This was a fantastic opportunity to network with people working within the field and also provided some experience of working to engage different audiences such as professionals and landowners.

I intend to do much more volunteering for Moors for the Future. There is no doubt that people who volunteer are valued greatly and I look forward to more events where I can be a part of the Moors for the Future mission.

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....

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

Photo competition 2016 - 'Water in the Uplands'

We're very happy to announce that this year's Community Science photo competition is now open for entries.

The theme for entries this year is 'WATER IN THE UPLANDS'  - intended in part to draw attention to the wide-ranging positive effects of re-wetting blanket bogs. As ever you are free to interpret this theme as you see fit - using as much creativity and imagination as possible!

This year there are age-based categories for photographers to enter - 'Adults' or '15 and under', and we have kindly been donated some fantastic prizes:

The winner of the adults category will win this amazing HD nest box camera system worth £99 - donated by Gardenature.

The winner of the 15 and under category will win this (appropriately) waterproof camera worth £130 donated by Harrison Cameras.

The deadline for entries is 31st Dec 2016. For full details of how to enter, please see our webpage. Good luck!

Bleaklow timelapse sequence

These fixed point photos, taken over the last 13 years, show the return of vegetation to Hern Clough on Bleaklow, Derbyshire - one of the sites where Moors for the Future Partnership have carried out conservation works:

2003 - the site is largely bare peat and exposed mineral soil

 

 

2005 - after initial treatment with heather brash, lime, seed and fertilizer the grass 'nurse crop' is in evidence. Note the empty brash bags awaiting removal.

2008 - repeat treatments have allowed the nurse crop to become established, knitting the peat surface together.

2010 - the nurse grasses have almost completely covered the bare peat, and there is evidence of other plants becoming established.

2013 - the area of exposed mineral soil is noticeably reduced and there are signs of dwarf shrubs like heather growing.

2016 - the dwarf shrub coverage has increased as can be seen by this heather in flower.

Watch a video of the re-vegetation so far...

What can a bird nest from 1934 tell us?

Twite nest from 1934

This bird nest is remarkable - it can tell us something fascinating about the history of the landscape from which it was taken.

It was built by a bird called a twite - a small finch which breeds on moorlands. Twite are now in serious decline - numbers have dropped by 90% since the 1990s. This is partly because of the loss of hay meadows which provide food - and the decrease in older heather stands for nesting.

The twite - Linaria flavirostris

The twite is almost unique - it is one of only two British bird species which feeds its young entirely on seeds - hence why hay meadows are so important for its breeding success.

What's so interesting about the nest in the photo? 

You may have noticed that it looks black in colour. This is not because it has deteriorated over the 80 years since it was collected - it was like this when it was taken from Saddleworth Moor in 1934.

The dark appearance is caused by a layer of greasy soot deposited from the atmosphere onto the grasses - from which the twite built its nest. This is an incredible window into the past - showing the widespread effects of pollution from the coal-burning heavy industries on the surrounding landscape - something which it is hard to imagine today.

It has been illegal to take the eggs of wild birds since 1954 - but egg collectors of the day reported that they would return from a day on the moor with their trousers blackened to the knee by this layer of soot.

Many thanks to Gallery Oldham for providing the photo and details of the nest - just one exhibit from their extensive natural history collection.

Visit the Gallery Oldham website or facebook page.

Wildlife photos from Crisis event - part 2

Last Friday was the second 'Creative Conservation' Community Science event with Crisis members from Sheffield. Member Steve Smith has shared this set of cracking wildlife shots he took on the day:

One of the highlights of the day was a close encounter with this roe buck near Longshaw estate

Another shot, as the roe deer makes a hasty exit...

A beautiful reed bunting seen singing in a patch of soft rush

Just one of the hundreds of millipedes all making their way along the path in Burbage Valley



A stunning meadow pipit; in a classic pose!


 

Wildlife photos from Community Science walk with Crisis members

Last Friday was the inaugural 'Creative Conservation' Community Science event with Crisis members from Sheffield -  consisting of a guided wildlife walk around the Millstone Edge and Padley Gorge area led by the Community Science team and Tom from the National Park Ranger Service, followed by an introduction to Community Science (and lunch stop) at Brunt's Barn near Grindleford.

Peacock butterfly (c) Steve Smith

Crisis member and photographer Steve took some pictures of some of the wildlife which was spotted, including the Community Science target species the Peacock Butterfly (above) - seen and recorded just below Millstone Edge.

A northern hairy wood ant nest (c) Steve Smith

Some of the other species also seen/heard and talked about were: orange-tip butterfly; early, white-tailed and tree bumblebees; willow warbler, chiffchaff, redstart, pied flycatcher, meadow and tree pipits, stonechat, buzzard, great spotted woodpecker, northern hairy wood ants, bluebells, lesser celandine, wood sorrel and birch polypore fungus (also known as razor strop) and red kite.

Female pied flycatcher (c) Steve Smith

Red kite (c) Steve Smith

Thanks to Steve for sending in these great photos, and also to everyone else involved for making it a very enjoyable day.

Surveying bumblebees - Sheffield University Conservation Volunteers

Guest post by Amruta Tendolkar (Sheffield University Conservation Volunteers)  http://sheffuniconservation.wix.com/sucv

As a sequel to the Sphagnum moss workshop that we did with the Moors for the Future, 15 of us headed to Longshaw Estate on Saturday to learn how to identify and survey bumblebees.

SUCV looking for bees!

Loss of flowers for foraging, loss of suitable nest sites and use of pesticides have led to the rapid decline of many bumblebee species in Britain. Bumblebees are better pollinators than most other species of bees because they can travel up to 2km from their nests in search of flowers and their tongues are much varied in length. Hence, it is essential to save them.

Studying bumblebee specimens before heading out

For this reason, Moors for the Future has initiated surveys to note down the abundance of bumblebees around moorland. They have chosen three species which are easy to identify and will be interesting to track in response to climate change. The morning session gave us pointers to identify these three bumblebee species and a few others commonly found in the area.In the afternoon, we took a walk around Longshaw Estate in search of some bees. 

 

Bumblebee survey materials

Since it is quite early for them to come out of hibernation, we could spot only two. However, the weather was sunny and everyone had a great time!

SUCV taking a well earned break at the end of the day

Thanks to everyone who came for the workshop and a big thank you to Tom, for conducting it.