DOI: 10.5061/dryad.fbg79cnzz
title: Data from: Initial ecological change in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated areas of upland peatland

description: This dataset is published in conjunction with the publication of : Kelly,
 R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2022) Initial ecological change
 in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated
 areas of upland peatland. Ecology and Evolution, and contains the
 environmental, botanical and entomological datasets underpinning the
 analysis contained there in. Additionally, it contains datasets on
 seedbanks and bird species which were collected as part of the Northern
 Ireland Environment Agency funded project 'Quantifying the impact of
 wildfires in the Northern Ireland' from 2012 to 2015 (see:
 https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/quantifying-impact-wildfires-northern-ireland-final-report-2016) This data underpins the following publications which discuss the impacts of wildfires at these key upland sites in Northern Ireland:  Kelly, R., Boston, E., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2016). The role of the seed bank in recovery of temperate heath and blanket bog following wildfires. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(4), 620-633.  https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12242 Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2018). Differences in soil chemistry remain following wildfires on temperate heath and blanket bog sites of conservation concern. Geoderma, 315, 20-26. - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.016 Reid, N., Kelly, R. & Montgomery, W.I. (2022) Impact of wildfires on ecosystems and bird communities on designated areas of blanket bog and heath. Bird Study (In press) Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2022) Initial ecological change in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated areas of upland peatland. Ecology and Evolution. (In press) Data were collected and collated by Ruth Kelly (ruth.kelly@afbini.gov.uk/ruthkelly123@gmail.com) in collaboration with Dr. Neil Reid, Dr. Emma Boston, Prof. W.I. Montgomery (Queen's University Belfast) and Dr. Damian Mc Ferran (National Museums of Northern Ireland). We are also very grateful to Roy Anderson, Orla McLaughlin, Anna Hart, Rachel Hamill, Adam Mantell, Tony Smith, Joanne Denyer and Richard Weyl for their expertise and assistance in species identification, and to Gillian Riddell, Caroline Finlay, Florentine Spaans, Jeremy Adelard, Marion Chapalain, Alice McPherson, Claire McVeigh, Amber Woods and Rachel Hamill for assistance and expertise in the laboratory and field. 
description: Data was collected at 6 upland Areas of Special Scientific
 Interest across Northern Ireland, to monitor ecological recovery following
 a series of large wildfires which occurred in 2011. GIS mapping was used
 to identify six Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs) within which
 large wildfires had occurred for inclusion in this study. These ASSIs were
 selected on the basis of containing areas of both upland heath and blanket
 bog habitats that had been burnt during 2011, namely: Cuilcagh, Eastern
 Mournes, Glennasheevar, Mullaghcarn, Slieveanorra/Croghan, and Slieve
 Beagh. Surveys at each site were conducted in 2012–2015, corresponding
 with the first three years post-wildfire. Baseline data on vegetation
 communities pre-fire are sourced from the Northern Ireland Environment
 Agency habitat condition assessments at these sites. 
 Survey methods differed between taxa or chemistry and are
 detailed in the following publications.  
 For seed-banks see: Kelly, R., Boston, E., Montgomery, W. I.,
 & Reid, N. (2016). The role of the seed bank in recovery of
 temperate heath and blanket bog following wildfires. Applied Vegetation
 Science, 19(4), 620-633.  https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12242 For soil chemistry see: Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2018). Differences in soil chemistry remain following wildfires on temperate heath and blanket bog sites of conservation concern. Geoderma, 315, 20-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.016 For vegetation and invertebrates see: Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2022) Initial ecological change in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated areas of upland peatland. Ecology and Evolution. (In press) For birds see: Reid, N., Kelly, R. & Montgomery, W.I. (2022) Impact of wildfires on ecosystems and bird communities on designated areas of blanket bog and heath. Bird Study (In press) Detailed metadata are given in the associated README.md file. 
description: Excel or OpenOffice