Natural England - Climate change
Climate change
In this area Natural England’s aim is to ensure the natural environment is resilient in the face of climate change.
The main focus of our evidence programme is to understand the impacts of climate change and develop adaptation measures. We are also investigating the role the natural environment can play in both reducing climate change (for example by taking up and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) and helping society to adapt to its consequences (for example by providing natural flood defences).
Relevant information
Natural England publications
Evidence projects
Evaluation
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0634 | Assessing and Responding to climate risks to Natural England’s Objectives | The direct impact of climate change on the natural environment is already being observed. The resultant changes in species, habitats and ecosystems pose both threats and potential opportunities for Natural England''s objectives. Indirect effects mediated through human responses to climate change, including adaptation in other sectors can also affect the natural environment in positive or negative ways. This report has been produced to meet the requirements of the Climate Change Act (2008) reporting power and presents our completed assessment of risks that climate change poses and our plans to address them.
| Simon Duffield |
Monitoring
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0291 | Monitoring of greenhouse gases following changes in land management in the North Pennines | To assess whether blocking moorland drainage channels reduces the production of greenhouses gases, and an indication of the level of any effect. Moorland drainage channels on Cronkley Fell in the North Pennines have been monitored for greenhouse gas release. The channels were then blocked and greenhouse gas emissions continue to be monitored.
| Alistair Crowle |
| RP0316 | Development of a long-term monitoring network | The objectives of the project are to: 1. Develop a long-term monitoring network to meet Natural England's evidence needs on the effects of climate change, air pollution and land management on the natural environment. 2. Establish a network of at least 40 core monitoring sites by the end of 2014. 3. Ensure that data from other existing and proposed long-term monitoring activities are managed and used in order to maximise their benefit as evidence on cause and effect of environmental change. 4. Ensure that maximum benefit and efficiency is gained from complementary activities of other agencies and bodies.
| Andy Nisbet |
Research
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0322 | Managing peatlands as carbon stores (MAPCARS) (PhD) | This project seeks to increase certainty about the impact of land management on the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of peatlands in particular (1) whether reduced losses (and even gains) of carbon by the restored peatland may be counteracted by increased methane emissions and (2) the extent to which fluvial carbon loss from peatlands contributes ultimately to GHG emissions. NERC CASE PhD student: Gemma Dooling, Leeds University.
| Matthew Shepherd |
| RP0347 | Evaluation of adaptation measures in response to climate change. | Adaptation to climate change is essential to all our areas of work. This project will provide an over-arching framework for assessing the effectiveness of adaptation measures. It will draw directly on the integrated research projects on resilience to climate change and the landscape approach, and feed into the development of new agri-environment schemes, particularly through the integrated project supporting this. This project will also have a remit to collaborate with other internal and external projects.
Natural England's financial contribution to this project is: £69,205.00 | Simon Duffield |
| RP0348 | Resilience to climate change: what is it and what makes ecosystems and landscapes resilient? | This project will evaluate theoretical concepts of resilience, clarify definitions, identify practical approaches and test them as far as we are able. This project will provide a strong basis for other climate change evidence projects. The resilience of both valued features (including landscape, geodiversity, habitats and species) and the ecosystem services they support will be included. It will compare across marine, terrestrial, coastal and freshwaters. Although climate change is the focus for this work, this project will also consider the extent to which resilience to other pressures is similar to that for climate change.
| Simon Duffield |
| RP0349 | Carbon storage by habitats | This project aims to summarise the best available evidence on carbon storage in contrasting land uses / habitats and to carry out targeted research to fill key evidence gaps (particularly for peatlands and coastal habitats). It has three main components: 1) An overview of carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes by the full range of English habitats. 2) An investigation of carbon storage and fluxes in coastal and marine habitats in a specific English context. 3) Development of peatland greenhouse gas monitoring, through both the development of a new network and support for ongoing measurements.
| Isabel Alonso |
| RP0364 | Climate change landscape scale adaptation project | Project to assess the vulnerability of the natural environment to climate change and develop appropriate adaptation responses. A methodology has been developed to aid this assessment and is being a trialed in a number of pilot areas. These areas are: (1) SE Northumberland Coastal Plain (2) Lancashire & Amounderness Plain (3) Morecambe Bay Limestones (4) Solway Basin (5) Humberhead Levels (6) Sherwood (7) London (8) South Downs (9) South East (regional assessment) (10) North West (regional assessment) (11) West Midlands (regional assessment; with at least a pilot study in Warwickshire to be published with the other studies.)
| Andy Neale |
| RP0384 | Is eroded peat a source of atmospheric CO2? (PhD) | To quantify and understand the fate of particulate organic carbon (POC) in streams draining upland peatlands, in particular the transformation to CO2 that is released to the atmosphere. Specifically the project will: * Measure the loss of POC and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from peat-covered catchments by mass balance. * Understand the transformation of POC into DOC and CO2. * Quantify competing processes for POC and DOC loss including adsorption and flocculation. * Develop methods for the inclusion of POC transformation and loss to the atmosphere into present carbon models. PhD student: Catherine Moody, Durham University.
| Mike Morecroft |
| RP0437 | Mapping Peat Depth and Carbon Storage in England | Peat soils are our most important land store of organic carbon. Natural England estimated peat carbon (C) storage in the 2010 NE257 report, but this was based on few, and old, data. This project, run under an MoA with the North Pennines AONB Partnership's Peatscapes initiative, will: i) collate and analyse all available peat depth/C data ii) develop a survey methodology to assess peat depth/C iii) conduct some new targeted peat surveys iv) coordinate with NPAs, NGOs etc. on new surveys v) produce a improved and easily updateable peat depth/C storage map for England vi) supply a report, database & licence-free map.
| Matthew Shepherd |
