A network of organisations & people making regular measurements of air, soil, water, animals & plants at UK sites since 1992. Our data & instrumented research sites support science to determine how & why the natural environment is changing | Web: ecn.ac.uk
This new blog post explains vital long-term studies of European #mountain top #vegetation that is revealing subtle but significant shifts towards plants associated with warmer conditions. UKCEH contributes because it has operated an ECN #long-term#research site there since 1999. 👇
Recent wildfires in the Cairngorms highlighted the vulnerability of mountain ecosystems to climate change. But many big changes are less visible, detectable only with sustained monitoring.
Dr Jan Dick shares insights from 20 years of UKCEH research in the Cairngorms
www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...
Two weeks left to submit talks and posters for the National Environmental Monitoring Conference 2026.
We're keen to hear about monitoring programmes, datasets, methods, tools, case studies, partnerships & emerging research. Deadline 18 Sept 2026 🧪
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/nemc...
Nitrogen is an essential element but too much in the environment can become a major pollutant with far-reaching impacts.
🎧 In our new Counting the Earth episode, we discuss this invisible pollutant harming ecosystems, air quality and human health globally.
audioboom.com/posts/894634...
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Climate change impacts on plants could be modulated or overridden by factors like microclimate. This analysis shows that shifts towards warmth-associated species in European summit flora are strongly dependent on local conditions such as substrate and the species pool
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
NEMC 2026 will take place in Birmingham this December. Book your place and propose your talk or poster soon... #environment#monitoring#observation#data#recording
Registration and submissions OPEN for presentations and posters for NEMC 2026, deadline 18 Sept. This year’s focus: turning the UK’s shared vision for environmental monitoring into coordinated action.
Learn more: https://www.ceh.ac.uk/nemc2026
An opportunity for people from the UK aged 16-25. Shape the future: apply now for the Youth Climate and Nature Panel. Applications close on Friday 11 September 2026: defraenvironment.blog.gov.uk/2026/08/06/s...#environment#climate#biodiversity#policy
Registration and submissions OPEN for presentations and posters for NEMC 2026, deadline 18 Sept. This year’s focus: turning the UK’s shared vision for environmental monitoring into coordinated action.
Learn more: https://www.ceh.ac.uk/nemc2026
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of conditions conducive to wildfire. Higher temperatures and low rainfall dry out vegetation and extend the period during which fuels are flammable.
Read the latest State of Wildfires report (from October 2025).
stateofwildfires.com
It's great that you enjoyed your first trip to Moor House, Nye. It's a special place, the focal point for many scientific studies dating back almost 100 years. Like ECN, you're part of the Moor House story, helping to gather data on these vitally important peatlands. 👏 #longterm#research
Friday fieldwork
A sunny start to the week at Moor House for maintaining two of our @ukceh.bsky.social Peat Cameras. It's my first visit in the 10 years I've been at UKCEH; and well worth the wait! There's something special about seeing first hand a site I've heard fondly mentioned by my colleagues
New data on insect pollinators show a dramatic decline in hoverflies across Great Britain between 2017–2024.
📉 Around one third reduction in abundance & number of hoverfly species recorded as part of @pomscheme.bsky.socialwww.ceh.ac.uk/press/new-da...
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NEW: a "Quick Guide" to FIT Counts (pdf) is now available from the PoMS website, providing a summary of how to do the counts and how to recognise the insect groups. This is a welcome addition to our more detailed guides, which are of course still available as well! ukpoms.org.uk/news/quick-g...
March 2026 Hydrological Summary for the UK published 💧
River flows were mostly in the normal range but above normal in several areas. Groundwater levels decreasing or stable but high to exceptionally high levels dominated across England.
Full detail via mailchi.mp/ceh/march-20... 🧪
In case you missed it, there's a new book available on the long-term studies at #Wytham Wood in Oxfordshire. It's an Oxford Uni research site and also an ECN long-term monitoring site. Our site manager, Denise spoke at the launch last month: tinyurl.com/WYT-book@ox.ac.uk#LTER
Shrubs are expanding on European #mountains. Research involving ECN analysed over 20yrs of #vegetation#monitoring#data from permanent plots across #alpine summits in Europe’s major mountain ranges, including observations at ECN's #Cairngorms site: tinyurl.com/mtn-shrubs@ukceh.bsky.social
The recordings of talks given at our recent UKEOF online conference 'Sensing the Environment: Emerging Technologies for Monitoring and Decision-Making' are now available. Link here ('Talk videos'): ukeof.org.uk/conference/c...#ukeof2026#environment#monitoring#data
ECN was involved in an international study on the responses of European plants to climate warming. We contributed data collected at our high altitude Cairngorms ECN site run by
@ukceh.bsky.social: ecn.ac.uk/news/europea...#ClimateChange#monitoring#research#ecosystems#LTER@ukri.org
Join a webinar discussion on The State of the UK’s Oaks, a new Action Oak report on the future of native oaks.
📅 Tue 17 Mar 2026, 2 - 3pm
🎟️ Register: ow.ly/8EaT50Yr9Kk
Join experts on plant health, climate science, woodland management and policy.
#ForestResearch | #OakTrees
Large Tortoiseshell has been recorded at six counties in the south of England in the last few weeks.
Its been recorded on a handful of UKBMS transects in the south east in the last few years. Will we see it expand and consolidate its foothold this year..?
butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blo...
📣 2026 Student Summer Internships are OPEN for applications!
We’re recruiting SEVEN interns across our National Capability programmes at our Bangor, Lancaster & Wallingford sites.
Superb opportunity for hands-on experience in environmental science & applied research.
Details ⬇️
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📢 Applications open soon for a FREE online course on Data-driven Approaches to Hydrological Science.
Running in July, this is for postgrad students, ECRs and professionals in consultancies, monitoring agencies & related industries seeking to strengthen skills.
🧪 hydro-jules.org/data-driven-...
Farmers and agronomists - discover the power of beetles on your farm with our scientists! On this free one day course (11th March) you'll learn how to monitor and ID carabid beetles, and enjoy tours of our research farm!
Register now 👇
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rothamstedresearch2/2065335
Today is your last chance to register for our free conference 'Sensing the Environment: Emerging Technologies for Monitoring and Decision-Making'. 24 February, online. Programme, etc. here: ukeof.org.uk/conference/c...#ukeof2026#environment#monitoring#data#sensors#technology#innovation
Don’t miss your place at our free conference 'Sensing the Environment: Emerging Technologies for Monitoring and Decision-Making'. 24 February, online: ukeof.org.uk/conference/c...#ukeof2026#monitoring#environment#ecosystems#sensors#technology#data
📢An exciting £920,000 research project kicks off next month to help restore one of Northern Ireland’s most threatened lakes — Lough Neagh.
Congratulations to the @ukceh.bsky.social team who will use state of the art technology to generate evidence to tackle its pollution @ukceh-moleco.bsky.social
Here's a selection of fixed-point photos taken at ECN sites in 2025. The rushing Trout Beck (Moor House, December); green glowing trees (Wytham Woods, April); a field basking in the sun (Rothamsted, July); woodland path (Cairngorms, February). See more at: ecn.ac.uk/sites/fixed-...
Check out the great line-up for next month's annual UK Environmental Observation Framework conference ⤵️
Speakers include Grace Skinner and Holly Tipper from UKCEH 🦋 🧪
Our annual conference, 'Sensing the Environment: Emerging Technologies for Monitoring and Decision-Making' will take place online on 24 February (morning only). Find out more & register: ukeof.org.uk/conference/c...#ukeof2026#sensors#monitoring#data#environment
This looks to be a fascinating half-day conference for anyone interested in #monitoring the #environment and environmental change via #sensor technologies.
Our annual conference, 'Sensing the Environment: Emerging Technologies for Monitoring and Decision-Making' will take place online on 24 February (morning only). Find out more & register: ukeof.org.uk/conference/c...#ukeof2026#sensors#monitoring#data#environment
A new study has found microplastics in greater quantities in a rural woodland than a nearby city.
It estimated up to 500 airborne particles were deposited on a sq metre of ground every day in Wytham Woods nr Oxford – almost twice as many as in the city centre.
www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪
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Brrr! 🥶Some icy conditions at Trout Beck, Moor House, earlier this week. Moor House in the North Pennines is one of our ECN long-term environmental #monitoring sites. See: ecn.ac.uk/sites/site/t...#LTER#environment#research#data. [Photo: E. Potter, UKCEH]
Warmer days may feel far away now, but some of our fluttery friends may still make appearances when that winter sun shows itself in our gardens and green spaces 🦋❄️
#SaveButterflies#MothsMatter
🌍 New research finds #mountain#ClimateChange is accelerating faster than predicted, altering snow, rainfall, & ecosystems – with significant consequences for billions of people.
🌄💧 Stemming from an MRI-funded workshop, the research calls for urgent monitoring & #ClimateAction: buff.ly/2LTqhSu
It’s National Tree Week and to mark the occasion, Forest Research staff are sharing the tree species they love most. 💚
🔎🌳 We’ve also updated our 'Easy Guide to Forest Trees and Their Uses' publication: www.forestresearch.gov.uk/publications...#NationalTreeWeek@thetreecouncil.bsky.social
❓We’re in a nature crisis – but how do we really know what’s happening?
Indicators give us the facts behind the headlines 👇
In our latest blog we explore the UK’s rich history of #wildlife recording – from Victorian botanical art to today’s cutting-edge data.
🔍 jncc.gov.uk/news/measuri... 🧵
We had a great meeting today with our wonderful, dedicated terrestrial site managers 👏. We shared updates from our ECN long-term #environmental research and #monitoring sites. It was an opportunity to share successes and challenges and to keep our network going. #research#data#LTER
'Moor House – an outdoor laboratory' describes the wealth of research undertaken over 70 years at Moor House National Nature Reserve. An accompanying file lists the 1000+ publications describing scientific studies of this northern Pennines area. #ecology#environment#research#monitoring#LTER
At yesterday's 10th annual Cumbrian Lakes Research Forum, we celebrated 80 years of monitoring Windermere and nearby lakes with talks from researchers and lake managers.
Learn more about our monitoring: https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/cumbrian-lakes
Take your place at the National Environmental Monitoring Conference next month and help build momentum for a shared UK environmental monitoring vision.
Registration closes tomorrow, 11 Nov: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/nati...@britishecologicalsociety.org@ukeof.bsky.social
Long-term monitoring tells a story of change. For 80 years scientists have monitored Windermere and nearby lakes in Cumbria, tracking how climate change and pollution are reshaping our freshwater ecosystems.
It’s one of the longest lake datasets anywhere in the world! 🌎
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The #CaSTCo project shows how community data can drive decisions on river management in England & Wales.
UKCEH co-led work on data management with Rivers Trust colleagues, developing CaSTCo Data Governance Principles & supporting best practice in citizen science.
🔗 castco.org/impact-report
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Thanks for highlighting Moor House and this important long-term ecological study. Moor House, in the North Pennines, has a long history of research, including long-term ECN monitoring, and it's great that ECT is supporting Rob's grazing experiment. 🐑 #ecology#research#vegetation#grazing#LTER
Moor House Grazing Plots, #England is the #LTESiteOfTheWeek.
Rob Marrs is testing the effects of removing #grazing sheep across 4 plant community types ranging from #grassland to #peatbog.
Pending the webpage on this site, you can read about it in our #newsletter from 2021: bit.ly/Dec21ECTNews 🌏