Habitat Impact Assessment (upland protected areas)

This dataset combines all available field data for upland habitat impact assessment (HIA) survey work commissioned by SNH between 2004 and 2018 using the methods described in (Macdonald et al 1998). Data collation was carried out by Edward Wilson as part of the review of deer data Project 017079 managed by Jenny Bryce of the Wildlife Management Activity Team. The aim was to bring together all the available into a corporate dataset, standardise and clean the data and make it accessible for internal and external use. It should be used as the primary source of HIA data as it supersedes (through data cleansing) the data held in spreadsheets.

Data refer to small-scale field indicators for grazing and trampling impacts by ungulates - most notably deer and sheep. NB not all indicators are appropriate to a given location, and where this is the case, data are referred to as not applicable (NA), adjacent to the relevant indicator. Additional field data include quantitative and trend measures. Attribute data, including Deer Management Unit, Deer Management Group, designated sites, and - where field-based observations are missing - NVC data, have been obtained from available SNH GIS data. Feature(s) of interest data has been determined based on survey Statements of Requirements and site-level designations (NB where both Natura and SSSI designations overlap, the former is prioritised unless otherwise stated in survey objectives), NVC descriptions and SNH specialised knowledge. Some apparent localised location discrepancies (e.g., points lying outside designated boundaries) do occur occasionally with this data, owing to GPS and human error from the time of survey.

The method for producing summary grazing and trampling impact classes for each point have been standardised using a median value (or an intermediate class where there are equal numbers) and hence the summary descriptions (L, ML, M, MH, H) presented in this dataset may vary from those in the original surveyors spreadsheets.

Indicator attribute names are coded to state the field guide habitat, as prefix (e.g. SG, for smooth grassland indicators); followed by the type of indicator or measure assessed (i.e., ’Q’, ’I’, ’T’ for quantitative, indicator and trend measures, respectively); the number of the measure, in order; and whether the measure is associated with grazing (‘GR’), trampling (‘TR’) or dunging (‘DU’) by ungulates. The order of the specific measures are taken from MacDonald et al. (1998) small-scale indicators for grazing and tramping impacts (only); the ordering of quantitative measures, which came into being after the guide publication, are determined from SNH document ‘DRAFT HIA Indicator tables 2017 v0.1.docx’ (A2479946).

Survey data split into 8 separate layers based on the contents of the field forms used for collection:
Blanket bog
Dwarf shrub and heath
Flushes
U7 - U13 Snowbeds
Scrub
Smooth grassland
Tall herbs
Wind-clipped heath

Explanation of attributes can be found in the HIA_attributes spreadsheet.
Additional surveys will be added at irrgeular intervals.

Tags: Bio-geographical regions, Habitats and biotopes, Natural risk zones, Protected sites, Species distribution, biodiversity, plants, animals, deer, Wildlife Mana
Organization: Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot