Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon is an upland ECN site incorporating the summit of Yr Wyddfa or Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales, 19km south-east of Bangor in North Wales. It is co-located with the Nant Teyrn freshwater site. The altitude ranges from 298-1085m and includes three additional summits over 800m. The bedrock is a mixture of Ordovician acidic and basic volcanic rocks, with localised igneous intrusions. Evidence of glaciation is widespread, with prominent corrie moraines. There are 5 lakes within the site, three of which form a 'staircase'. The soils are varied and include brown podzolic soil, gleys, organic peat soils and humic rankers. The dominant vegetation is acidic grassland with Festuca ovina (sheep's fescue) and Agrostis sp (bent grass) in the drier areas and Nardus stricta (mat grass) in the wetter areas. The site is part of the Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon National Nature Reserve, managed by the Natural Resources Wales under agreement with the owner. The land is unenclosed and grazed by sheep and a small herd of feral goats.

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General Characteristics, Purpose, History

Site Status:

existing

Year Site Established:

1995

Size :

700.00ha

Purpose of Site :

The site is part of the Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon National Nature Reserve, managed by the Natural Resources Wales under agreement with the owner. The land is unenclosed and grazed by sheep and a small herd of feral goats. It is a popular area for tourists (hill walkers, climbers,etc.) and is the location of some upland research.

History of Site:

Snowdon is an iconic site in Wales. It is the highest mountain (1085m) south of the Scottish Highlands. Current uses of Snowdonia’s upland ecosystems are only a part of a long history of human use of this environment. Post-glacial conditions enabled a forest cover to develop over much of Snowdonia, and by the Mesolithic (about 8,000 years BP) humans started to utilise the local resources provided by woodland, taking deer, aurochs and wild boar for food and timber for fuel and building materials. The exploitation of these resources then evolved into forms of shifting agriculture during the Neolithic, together with the early exploitation of minerals. Agriculture slowly expanded and by the 12th century systematic woodland clearance became more advanced with the shift from woodland exploitation to farming. By the 18th century mixed farming had been replaced by sheep-dominated husbandry, together with an expansion of mining for minerals such as arsenic, copper, lead and slate. Mining peaked during the industrial revolution and had ceased by the end of the First World War. The history of human use of the area has resulted in a complex tapestry of vegetation overlying a postglacial landscape valued for its cultural, farming and environmental resources. These environmental resources include many rare and important species and habitats. In conservation terms, it has been designated as a National Nature Reserve and forms a part of the Eryri Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Eryri Special Area of Conservation designated under the EU Habitats Directive. The site is particularly important for its assemblage of relict arctic-alpine species and montane habitats, many of which occur here near the southern limit of their range in the UK. It also has possibly the largest number of visitors of any mountain in the UK.

Parameters:

Photos

Geographic

Coordinates:

Latitude: 53.066700000000
Longitude: -4.033330000000

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Site Details

Ecosystem and Environmental Characteristics

Elevation Range FROM:

298.00msl

Elevation Range TO:

1 085.00msl

Elevation - Average:

267.00msl

Air Temperature Range (Monthly Minimum) FROM:

3.27°C

Air Temperature Range (Monthly Maximum) TO :

3.27°C

Air Temperature: Average Annual:

7.84°C

Precipitation Minimum Monthly :

484.60mm

Precipitation Annual :

2 471.80mm

Precipitation Maximum Monthly :

767.10mm

Biome :

Alpine

GEO-BON Biome:

Terrestrial

Ecosystem and Land Use:

Alpine

Biogeographical Region:

Atlantic

Geology:

The bedrock is a mixture of Ordovician acidic and basic volcanic rocks, with localised igneous intrusions. Evidence of glaciation is widespread, with prominent corrie moraines.

Hydrology:

There are 5 lakes within the site, three of which form a 'staircase'. The Nant Teryn stream that drains the site is an ECN freshwater monitoring site.

Vegetation:

The dominant vegetation is acidic grassland with Festuca ovina (sheep´s fescue) and Agrostis sp (bent grass) in the drier areas and Nardus stricta (mat grass) in the wetter areas.

Soils:

The soils are varied and include brown podzolic soil, gleys, organic peat soils and humic rankers.

eLTER Parameters

eLTER Parameters:

Network Affiliation and Network Specific Information

Affiliation:

LTER
eLTER (H2020)
eLTER catalogue
UK Environmental Change Network

LTER related

LTER Site Code:

LTER_EU_UK_057

LTER Site Classification/Category:

Master

Accreditation Status by LTER Member Network:

Accredited formal LTER facility

ExpeER Classification:

Highly Instrumented Observational Site

Protection Status and Resource Management

Natura 2000

75 - 100%

Management of Resources :

Yes

Management of Resources - Percent of Site:

75 - 100%

Management of Resources - Notes:

The land is unenclosed and grazed by sheep and a small herd of feral goats.

Design and Scale of Site

Site Type (Spatial Design):

Complex Site

Scale of Observation:

plot without link to explicit catchment

Design of Observation:

mainly observation

Scale of Experiments:

plot scale

Design of Experiments:

partly experimentation

Infrastructure

Infrastructure notes:

Accommodation nearby

Accessible All Year :

All parts of Site Accessible:

Access Type:

dirt road (4WD)

Permanent Power Supply:

Infrastructure:

Data infrastructure › Data storage › Structured file
Data infrastructure › Data storage › Spatial data file (GIS)
Data infrastructure › Data storage › Relational database
Data infrastructure › Data storage › XML database
Data infrastructure › Data services › Data portal

Operation

Operation Notes:

ECN terrestrial monitoring is carried out at least once every 7 days

Permanent Operation:

Yes

Site Visit Interval:

Every 7 days

Maintenance Interval:

Every 7 days

Data Management

General Data Policy:

Data are available through an Open Government Licence

Data Policy Notes:

The ECN datasets are hosted by the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC - http://eidc.ceh.ac.uk/), managed by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) - https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/4971bce4-8a81-4e23-9637-7fcff37c5f21. They are available under the Open Government Licence and can be cited via DOI's (digital object identifier).

Data Storage Location :

Central

Data services :

Data portal

Data Notes:

Data available via ECN Data Centre: http://data.ecn.ac.uk/index.asp

Associated Data

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