Conwy - United Kingdom

Basic Information
Site Name
Conwy
Short name
Conwy
Country
United Kingdom
Web Address
The Conwy: A source to sea catchment research platform
Site Manager
Chris Evans
Operating Organisation
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Site Description
Mixed lowland and upland catchment established as a major UK research platform for ecological research, including long-term monitoring of greenhouse has fluxes and water quality, ecosystem-scale experiments, ecological and biogeochemical process studies and modelling. The Conwy catchment incorporates a range of habitats broadly representative of Wales, comprising upland bog and heath, mountain grassland, lowland improved grassland, conifer and broadleaf woodland.
Last modified
2021-11-23 11:11:54

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2006
Observed properties
agricultural parameter
amount of nitrate leaching
dissolved organic carbon in soil
nutrient concentration
nutrient content
soil fertility
atmospheric parameter
air humidity
air temperature
carbon dioxide concentration
heat flux
maximum temperature
mean annual air temperature
mean annual precipitation
mean annual temperature
methane concentration
minimum temperature
plant carbon concentration
solar radiation
wind direction
wind speed
biological parameter
above ground biomass
annual net primary production
leaf area
leaf area ratio
leaf nutrient
nitrogen content
plant nitrogen concentration
chemical parameter
acid neutralising capacity
air methane concentration
ammonium content
available phosphorus
carbon to nitrogen ratio
chemical composition of water
dissolved nutrient
dissolved organic carbon in water
dissolved organic nitrogen
inorganic nutrient content
insoluble organic carbon content
percent carbon
percent organic carbon
pH value of water
soil acidity
soil carbon storage
soil nitrogen
soil nutrient
soil organic carbon
soil pH
soil solution concentration
soil solution pH
suspended solids
total carbon
total organic carbon
water acidity
water alkalinity
water turbidity
ecosystem parameter
above ground net primary production
microbial diversity
soil microbial diversity
landscape parameter
land cover
land use
land use intensity
landscape composition
landscape metrics
soil parameter
carbon-to-nitrogen ratio
soil moisture field capacity
soil temperature
soil texture
soil volumetric water content
thickness of soil horizon
total organic carbon
water parameter
ammonium nitrogen content
conductivity
dissolved organic phosphorus
lake temperature
runoff amount
stage height
water acidity
water level
water quality
water table
water temperature
water volume
Photos
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Geographic
View in site map
Size
28500.00ha
Elevation (average)
300.00msl
Elevation (min)
0.00msl
Elevation (max)
1050.00msl
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
LTER Europe✔This site is a verified "LTER Europe" member.
UK ECN✔ (LTER_EU_UK_076)This site is a verified "UK ECN" member.
Projects
eLTER catalogue
eLTER (H2020)
eLTER PLUS (H2020) - VA
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Site information [.json]

Centroid coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Coastal
Fresh water lakes
Fresh water rivers
Terrestrial
Biome
Grasslands
Ecosystem Type
Agricultural
Forest
Grasslands
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Inland surface waters (C)
Mires, bogs and fens (D)
Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats (I)
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
10.00°C
Air Temperature Range (Monthly Minimum)
0.00°C
Air Temperature Range (Monthly Maximum)
25.00°C
Precipitation Annual
1500.00mm
Precipitation Maximum Monthly
200.00mm
Precipitation Minimum Monthly
100.00mm
Geology
Ordovician and Silurian shales and mudstones, acid and basic igneous.
Vegetation
Bog, dwarf shrub heath, acidic grassland, improved grassland, non-native conifer, mixed native broadleaf.
Soils
Peat, mixed organo-mineral soils and brown earths
Hydrology
Large river catchment with multiple lakes and reservoirs.
Protection Level (IUCN category)
Category V – Protected Landscape/Seascape/Area
Site Type
Stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
partly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
plot scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Equipment
Data infrastructure » Data services » Other data services
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Spatial data file (GIS)
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Spatial database (GIS)
Equipment notes
Large inhabited catchment so commercial accommodation available, site is in close proximity to research and lab facilities at CEH, Bangor University (including experimental farm). Power supply varies across site, remote monitoring and experimental locations are operated on solar or wind generators and batteries. Measuring 'tower' (for CO2 and CH4 flux measurement) is located within blanket bog rather than forest, 2 m above vegetation. Multiple sites across catchment are equipped with automatic weather stations, discharge gauges, continuous water chemical sensors etc.
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
Yes
Access Type
paved road
Permanent Operation
No
Operation Notes
Measurement frequency varies from continuous meteorology, flow, greenhouse gas fluxes etc to 2-weekly water sampling, annual productivity measurements, etc. The catchment is the subject of several major ongoing research projects (total value > 5m euros) so operations cost refers to long-term monitoring component only.
Site Visit Interval
14
Maintenance Interval
14
General Data Policy
The data provider must be offered co-authorship for publications using this dataset at least within the metadata description
Formal acknowledgement of the dataset providers
LTER Site Classification
Master
There is EURO-CORDEX climate scenario data available for this site:
Projected Near Surface Specific Humidity ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Precipitation ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Sea Level Pressure ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Surface Downwelling Shortwave RadiationRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Wind SpeedRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85

You can also download the entire climate scenario dataset for this site from the EUDAT B2SHARE data store.