As part of the design phase for England Ecosystem Survey, Natural England commissioned the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) to produce a suite of reports providing statistical advice on sampling strategies.
These research reports were made possible via a research partnership agreement between the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme (NCEA Defra) and UKCEH.
The following reports were commissioned.
1. Ecosystem field survey design – statistical and sampling expertise for survey design
The objective of this report is to review the potential options for: different sampling units; strategies for sample selection; within-unit sampling options; and to provide a power analysis of different survey design scenarios. Integration with other monitoring schemes is discussed with examples of existing cases. Logistics and practical elements of survey are considered in this document.
2. England Ecosystem Survey – sample selection strategy, including Appendix A and B
The purpose of this work is to provide advice on selecting the layers to use for stratification and inclusion probability weighting. This was broken down in two main components: reviewing different options for stratifications by understanding the potential coverage they may provide; and demonstrating the use of inclusion probabilities to capture classes underrepresented by the stratification.
3. England Ecosystem Survey – power analysis by typologies
This report presents a power analysis parameterising simulations using data from specific typology layers and quantifying the relationship between the numbers of samples versus statistical power.
4. England Ecosystem Survey – field based protocols review
The purpose of this report is to provide an assessment and review of the proposed protocols for the England Ecosystem Survey.