Summer Snow Patches and Climate in Northeast Scotland, U.K.

Watson, Adam; Davison, Richard William; French, D. D.

doi:10.2307/1551777

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is, therefore, assumed that a temperature mediated change in activity of N cycling bacteria may occur around 5ºC, or that plant uptake of N may be significantly reduced below 5ºC. In addition, soil temperature, although not measured here, was found to be dependent on aspect (Watson et al, 1994). In the study reported here, total dissolved N concentrations in summer were correlated positively with sites with colder predominantly north, northeast and north-west facing slopes in the Mourne Mountains.…”

Section: Linear Regressionmentioning

confidence: 55%

The role of catchment characteristics in determining surface water nitrogen in four upland regions in the UK

Helliwell¹,

Coull²,

Davies³

et al. 2007

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hydrochemical and catchment data from 80 upland moorland sites in four regions with contrasting climate, soils, geology and geomorphology have been analysed to assess the key catchment attributes that influence enhanced leaching of soluble nitrogen to surface waters. The regions are the South Pennines of northern England, the Snowdonia National Park in north Wales, the Galloway region of south-west Scotland and the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, all highly acidified, with median pH values of <5.5. Linear regression of mean summer and winter concentrations for nitrate (NO 3 ), ammonium (NH 4 + ), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were expressed as functions of catchment attributes. Nitrate concentrations in waters draining catchments dominated by peaty soils (large C pool) were much less than those in catchments dominated by mineral soils (small C pool). Hence, if future N deposition levels are maintained or increase, high-altitude catchments with small carbon pools are potentially more susceptible to NO 3 leaching. All N species exhibit seasonality; this is most marked in Galloway and least marked in the South Pennines, which implies that the South Pennines have reached an advanced stage of N saturation. Surface water inorganic N concentrations and the ratio of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to dissolved organic N (DON) can be related to deposition inputs, although relationships differ throughout the year. If the DOC/DON ratio is indicative of catchment N saturation, levels of N retention are at least partially determined by deposition levels. This study identifies N deposition as a major interregional control on the degree of catchment N saturation and on N leaching to surface waters; it stresses the importance of catchment factors in modifying the relationship between N deposition and leaching in acid sensitive UK upland catchments.

show abstract

Section: Linear Regressionmentioning

confidence: 55%

The role of catchment characteristics in determining surface water nitrogen in four upland regions in the UK

Helliwell¹,

Coull²,

Davies³

et al. 2007

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Snow at the lowest site monitored on Meall na Speireig (Pottie 1995) In AW'S annual survey east of the A9 road at the start of July, the total of almost 800 patches exceeded the 1974-89 mean of 749, but annual totals in most years in 1974-89 were bigger -up to 2896 in 1977 (Watson et al 1994). Over a larger area that is visible from the Cairngorms, the Monadh Liath held 12, Creag Meagaidh hills 9, Ben Alder hills 11 , and hills fiom Ben Lawers to Beinn Heasgarnich 39.…”

Section: Patches In May-august On Ben Wyvismentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In 1999, Ben Alder head stalker, I. Crichton, told DD that Coire Cheap's snow had gone (Watson et al 2000). In 2000 he showed us the site.…”

Section: Patches In August and Septembermentioning

confidence: 99%

Forty‐one UK snow patches last until winter 2000/01

Watson

Pottie

Duncan

2001

Weather

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Winters are comparatively mild and wet even in midwinter so that persistent deep snow cover is limited (Watson et al 1994). Moreover, summers are cooler than at similar altitudes in much of continental Europe.…”

Section: The Factors Affecting Survivalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can we protect threatened Scottish arctic-alpine higher plants?

Sydes¹

2008

Plant Ecology & Diversity

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The threatened arctic-alpine plants in Scotland are described from the results of a comprehensive survey carried out between 1990 and 1996 which attempted to record all populations. The factors affecting the survival of populations of these species are indicated along with the legal measures available for their protection. I consider whether we should protect these species and whether we can. The steps needed to help ensure their survival are suggested. These could include the assessment of the local risk to populations and the implementation of remedial management to threatened populations. Scottish botanists have to decide whether they support such a change in conservation practice for plants. A conservation perspective of the Scottish mountain floraThe resourcePopulations of the rare plants found in the Scottish mountains have been visited for a very long time. Locations were evidently often jealously guarded but rich areas became generally known (Raven and Walters 1956). Records of individual locations were collated from members of the Botanical Society of the British Isles for the first atlas of plant distribution in Britain and Ireland (Perring and Walters 1962); afterwards the results were inherited by the Nature Conservancy. The successor body to the Nature Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy Council, encouraged the recording and collation of rare plant records throughout its existence due mainly to the enthusiasm of Lynne Farrell. Nevertheless the remoteness of many populations and the lack of botanists meant that some of the records inherited by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) when it was set up in 1992 were very old. This reflects a general pattern of plant recording activity in Britain that declines with distance from the main population centre in south-east England (Rich 2006). Therefore in 1995-6 SNH asked botanists to revisit all known Scottish populations of plants listed in the current red list (Perring and Farrell 1983) and not recorded since 1990. From these records I have selected the arctic-montane and boreal-montane plants as defined by Preston and Hill (1997) to provide information for this paper.An important innovation for this SNH monitoring exercise was that field workers were asked to search also for unknown plant populations in the 1 km square around each recorded location. This helped to ensure that the full resource in the immediate area was assessed and reduced the inherent bias in searching only for known populations. All local plant populations must become extinct at some stage, by predation or destruction, by chance demographic events, by habitat change or, ultimately, by geological change. Searching only for known populations will inevitably suggest the resource is declining, fuelling the argument for conservation but not reflecting the true threat to the species as long as new populations are becoming established elsewhere. Ideally for statistical analysis, searches based on random locations would provide the assessment of the change in species populations, but searches by exp...

show abstract

Summer Snow Patches and Climate in Northeast Scotland, U.K.

Cited by 40 publications

References 11 publications

The role of catchment characteristics in determining surface water nitrogen in four upland regions in the UK

The role of catchment characteristics in determining surface water nitrogen in four upland regions in the UK

Forty‐one UK snow patches last until winter 2000/01

Can we protect threatened Scottish arctic-alpine higher plants?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About