JNCC report series

This report details work undertaken to identify the list of recommended Priority Marine Features in Scottish offshore waters by JNCC.

This report presents the findings of a study to determine the suitability of NonatecTM* microchip transponders as a permanent marker for juvenile tortoises, and AlphaDotsTM* for use as temporary markers

To improve available understanding of the role played by peatland in UK GHG emissions, a consortium of governments and agencies commissioned a review published by JNCC to establish the emission factors which could be derived from research so far, the level of completeness and uncertainty, and the degree to which currently deployed research effort will address the key deficiencies (Worral et al, 2011). A second report (Evans et al, 2011) presents the research needs required to improve quantification of the C / GHG fluxes to and from UK peatlands.

JNCC Commissioned Report highlighting Indirect Land Use change impacts on biodiversity worldwide.

This review evaluates some key long-term MPA monitoring programmes from around the world against a good monitoring framework. The report highlights several issues concerned with these monitoring programmes. The current issues with these monitoring programmes and lessons learned from other fields of marine and environmental research are relevant to all types of environmental monitoring. These lessons should help improve the scientific credibility and success of current and upcoming marine monitoring programmes.

The following report was commissioned by JNCC to explore means by which a strategic overview could be taken of the risks posed to aquatic organisms (fish and invertebrates) by commercial exploitation for international trade. In doing so, it might then be possible to identify those species at greatest potential risk from over-exploitation and for which the application of multi-lateral environmental agreements such as CITES or CMS , as complementary measures to fisheries management, might make a tangible difference to their conservation and sustainable use.

Our dependence on overseas ecosystems makes it imperative that we take steps to ensure the long term productivity of these systems. Routine monitoring and analysis of imports flows, identifying potential negative overseas impacts, and the formulation of policies to avoid or mitigate these, is therefore in the national interest. National statistics permit the biomass input to the UK economy to be monitored in terms of the changing balance between domestic production, imports and exports. Material flow analysis of biomass imports in particular forms the basis for quantifying and qualifying the pressures that are being exerted by the UK economy on overseas ecosystems through our biomass consumption.

The aim of the study reported here was to gain a better understanding of the links between geodiversity and biodiversity at a landscape scale and their relevance for conservation management, as well as to promote awareness of such links among JNCC and country agency staff involved in advisory and policy development work. The study was based on a limited review of published and unpublished literature, as well as a consultation exercise among specialists in JNCC’s Lead Co-ordination Networks. Two case studies from coastal and upland ecosystems emphasise the importance of understanding and working with natural processes. From a conservation management perspective, spatially integrated approaches at the landscape/ecosystem scale are arguably most critical in a changing world. In the short-term, an appraisal is required of management principles and practical guidance on how existing understanding of physical processes might be better integrated and applied to meet the needs of adaptive management in a changing environment at the landscape/ecosystem scale. Crucially, there is a need for management advice for how to work with natural/physical processes in the context of climate change and sea-level rise.

In this second part of the project, the results of the new analysis, together with other sources of independent evidence, are interpreted in respect of implications for “conservation commitments”.

This document sets out and summarises information about proposed additions and revisions to the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) in terms of the communities, sub-communities and variants covered by this vegetation classification system.