Plant communities are an indicator for wider biodiversity, and changes in species composition and abundance will help identify what is driving change and what the impact of that change might be. Each LTMN site has a vegetation survey every four years either through a contracted or in-house survey where local team staff and external volunteers can take part. The methodology is based on approximately 50 permanent plots, which are 2m x 2m and divided into 25 individual cells. In each cell we record:
- Height of vegetation
- The presence of every vascular plant species and the main bryophytes
- Whether there is litter, bare rock or bare soil present
- Percentage cover of each species throughout the plot
We also use a woodland methodology where relevant.
The full methodologies for this protocol can be found below.
This page is part of Natural England’s Long Term Monitoring Network. To access the vegetation data see the individual Core sites data pages.