UK Grassland Soil Parameters and FT-IR Spectra from 32 Sites (2015-2016)

Winter and spring 2015-2016 data from 32 paired intensive and extensive grassland sites across the UK. The dataset contains soil state and environmental parameters including total Nitrogen, total Carbon, total Phosphorus, soil pH, moisture, texture, bulk density, and FT-IR spectra. It was collected by project staff for the NERC U-GRASS award to understand soil functional change.

Use Cases

• Model relationships between soil pH and total Carbon or total Nitrogen levels across paired grassland management systems.
• Analyze soil texture (sand, silt, clay) correlations with bulk density and soil moisture measurements.
• Use Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra to predict soil organic Carbon content or classify parent soil types.
• Investigate the impact of management scenarios on total Phosphorus and loss on ignition (LOI) values.

Strengths

• Covers 32 distinct sampling sites across the United Kingdom.
• Includes paired samples from both intensive and extensive grassland systems, enabling comparative analysis.
• Provides multiple analytical measurements per sample, including chemical (N, C, P, pH), physical (moisture, texture, density), and spectral (FT-IR) data.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single winter-spring season (2015-2016), lacking multi-year trends.
• Sample size is constrained to 32 sites, which may limit statistical power for broad geographic generalizations.
• Data represents specific grassland systems and parent soils (low/high pH), reducing direct applicability to other land uses or soil types.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre, collected under the NERC U-GRASS award (NE/M017125/1).

Collection Method

Soil samples collected by experienced project staff, subdivided for subsequent laboratory analysis.

Time Range

Winter and spring 2015-2016.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026, though core data collection occurred in 2015-2016.

Geography

32 sites across the United Kingdom.