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different frequencies of measurement, single measurements for multiple locations, multiple observations for a single location etc. This necessitates a free-format approach to data entry, although this will require closer quality control of data submissions it will be possible to automate some of these quality controls within the final database.
The following section describes the fields set out in the database template. The database structure has been implemented as an accompanying Excel spreadsheet. The example data included in the accompanying spreadsheet are extracts from data provided by various restoration projects. The purpose of including the data is to test the flexibility of the database structure to accept data from actual examples and to illustrate the format of the data. Within the database each measurement or data point is represented by on row of data.
A3.1. Explanation of fields A3.1.1.Hydrology
ID: Project ID. Linked to project metadata database. In an effort to build on existing work and not duplicate earlier efforts, The Moors For the Future Peat Compendium project4 metadata format is proposed for storing information on peat restoration projects. This field serves as a common key field to link the two databases.
Restoration treatment: Type of restoration treatment applied. This list is constrained to be Stabilisation, Peat reprofiling, Reseeding, Planting, Grip-blocking, Gully-blocking, Vegetation removal, Stock reduction/exclosure, Rewetting, Draining, Vegetation burning, Fire suppression, None (for control plots) or Other.
Note: This is a free text field. If the restoration treatment entered is ‘other’ then a short description should be provided.
Water Level:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
Identifier for site: Free text field for unique identifier for each sampling location. Can use project’s own coding system or incremental number etc.
Date and time: date of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM
4
Walker, J, Holden, J., Evans, M., Worrall, F., Davison, S., and Bonn, A. (2008) A compendium of UK peat restoration and management projects. Report to Defra, project code SP0556.
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=SP0556_7584_FRP.pdf
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Method: text field for brief details of method. Field is restricted to certain values that appear in a drop-down list, for example ‘automatically logged - digital’. If ‘Other’ is entered then additional text explaining the method should be provided in the next column.
Water level (m): elevation of water surface above datum in meters.
Datum: datum used for measurements (Ordnance survey, local etc.) Note: free text field for additional information.
Hydraulic Head:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
Identifier for site: Free text field for unique identifier for each sampling location. Can use project’s own coding system or incremental number etc.
Date and time: date of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM Installed elevation: elevation of unscreened piezometer (m above datum).
Method: restricted text field for brief details of method. For example ‘automatically logged - digital’. If ‘Other’ is entered then additional text explaining the method should be provided in the next column.
Hydraulic head (m): elevation of hydraulic head above datum Datum: datum used for measurements (Ordnance survey, local etc.) Note: free text field for additional information.
Discharge:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
Date and time: date of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM
Method: restricted text field for brief details of method. For example ‘flat plate weir’. If ‘Other’
is entered then additional details should be provided in the next column.
Discharge (m³/s): measured discharge in m³/s. If discharge has been measured with other units it should be converted to this standard.
172 Note: free text field for additional information.
Precipitation:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Date: date for measurement, depending on frequency (e.g. Jan, Feb, Mar for monthly rainfall, DD/MM/YYYY for daily)
Method: either on-site rain gauge, nearest weather station or other. If ‘Other’ is entered then additional information should be provided in the following column.
Total rainfall: total rainfall in mm for the specified period in the Date field.
Note: free text field for additional information.
Evapotranspiration:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
Date: date for measurement, depending on frequency (e.g. Jan, Feb, Mar for monthly evapotranspiration total or monthly average, DD/MM/YYYY for daily)
Method: method used for measurement selected from drop-down list. If ‘Other’ is entered then additional information should be provided in the following column.
Evapotranspiration: measured evapotranspiration as total or rate
Units: units for measurement selected from list. If ‘Other’ is selected then units should be specified in next column.
Note: free text field for additional information.
A3.1.2. Biodiversity
ID: Project ID. Linked to project metadata database.
Restoration treatment: Type of restoration treatment applied. This list is constrained to be Stabilisation, Peat reprofiling, Reseeding, Planting, Grip-blocking, Gully-blocking, Vegetation removal, Stock reduction/exclosure, Rewetting, Draining, Vegetation burning, Fire suppression, None (for control plots) or Other.
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Note: If restoration treatment is ‘other’ then a short description should be provided.
Flora/cover:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference NVC code: National Vegetation Classification for site
Identifier (for plot, quadrat etc.): Free text field for unique identifier for each sampling location (e.g. for each quadrat on a transect). Can use project’s own coding system or incremental number etc.
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
Survey method: text field for brief description of method e.g. random quadrat, fixed quadrat, transect, plot etc. If ‘Other’ is selected from predefined list then method should be specified in next column.
Quadrat size (m²): if method uses quadrats then the area of the quadrat in m² should be specified.
Survey date: date of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM
Species name/cover: name of species, can also be used to indicate presence of bare soil or rock.
Parameter: parameter that was measured (e.g. presence/absence, frequency, percentage cover) specified from a predefined list. If ‘Other’ is selected from predefined list then parameter should be specified in next column.
Value: data for measured parameter
Note: free text field for additional information.
Fauna:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference NVC code: National Vegetation Classification for site
Identifier: Free text field for unique identifier for each sampling location (e.g. for each quadrat on a transect). Can use project’s own coding system or incremental number etc.
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
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Survey method: text field for brief description of method e.g. random quadrat, fixed quadrat, transect, plot etc. If ‘Other’ is selected from predefined list then method should be specified in next column.
Quadrat size (m²): if method uses quadrats (e.g. invertebrate survey) then the area of the quadrat in m² should be specified.
Survey date: date of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM
Taxon: Is the survey of birds, invertebrates, herpetiles, mammals or microbiota.
Species name: name of species
Parameter: parameter that was measured (e.g. presence/absence, frequency, percentage cover) specified from a predefined list. If ‘Other’ is selected from predefined list then parameter should be specified in next column.
Value: data for measured parameter
Units: units of measurement. If ‘Other’ is selected from predefined list then units should be specified in next column.
Note: free text field for additional information
A3.1.3. Carbon
ID: Project ID. Linked to project metadata database.
Restoration treatment: Type of restoration treatment applied. This list is constrained to be Stabilisation, Peat reprofiling, Reseeding, Planting, Grip-blocking, Gully-blocking, Vegetation removal, Stock reduction/exclosure, Rewetting, Draining, Vegetation burning, Fire suppression, None (for control plots) or Other.
Note: If restoration treatment is ‘other’ then a short description should be provided.
Carbon:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Identifier: Free text field for unique identifier for each sampling location (e.g. for each quadrat on a transect). Can use project’s own coding system or incremental number etc.
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
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Survey method: text field for brief description of method e.g. random quadrat, fixed quadrat, transect, plot etc. If ‘Other’ is selected from predefined list then method should be specified in next column.
Date: date of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM
Method: method used for measurement. If 'Other' is selected then method should be entered into the next column. Further details can be entered in the Note field if necessary e.g.
laboratory methods used.
Parameter: Parameter measured. Restricted to Soil Organic Carbon, Soil Organic Matter, Plant biomass, Carbon dioxide, Methane, Dissolved Organic Carbon, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon, Carbon as dissolved gases or Other. If 'Other' is selected then it should be entered into the next column.
Value: data for measured parameter
Units: units for measurement selected from a pre-defined list.
Note: free text field for additional information A3.1.4. Water chemistry
ID: Project ID. Linked to project metadata database.
Restoration treatment: Type of restoration treatment applied. This list is constrained to be Stabilisation, Peat reprofiling, Reseeding, Planting, Grip-blocking, Gully-blocking, Vegetation removal, Stock reduction/exclosure, Rewetting, Draining, Vegetation burning, Fire suppression, None (for control plots) or Other.
Water quality parameters:
Location: location of measurement in GB or Irish grid reference
Identifier: Free text field for unique identifier for each sampling location (e.g. for each quadrat on a transect). Can use project’s own coding system or incremental number etc.
Pre/post treatment or control: is the measurement pre or post treatment, or is it a control site?
Date: date and time of measurement in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM Method: method selected from drop-down list
Parameter: name of parameter from drop-down list. Limited to Conductivity, pH, Ammonia, Nitrate, Phosphate, Phosphorous, Potassium, Magnesium, Chloride, Redox potential
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and Other. If ‘Other’ is selected from list then parameter should be entered in next column.
Value: numerical value of sample
Units: units of measurement selected from drop-down list. If ‘Other’ is selected from list then parameter should be entered in next column.
Note: Free text field for additional information
A4. Recommendations
1. The database specification set out here can be used as the structure for a database of peatland monitoring data and as template for data entry to that database.
2. The structure proposed here should be further tested with stakeholders before it is finalised and adopted as no data were available from restoration projects to test some aspects of the structure e.g. carbon and greenhouse gas monitoring.
3. The specification is set out in an Excel format and will require implementation as a relational database by a specialist database developer to ensure that it is a sufficiently robust tool to allow wide distribution and access.
4. Should the database structure be implemented as a relational database it could be made available as an online resource for users to upload and download data. This would provide a valuable resource for stakeholders but would necessitate on-going maintenance and quality control of submitted data.
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APPENDIX 4: GREENHOUSE GAS FLUX COLLAR TECHNIQUES