Bencrom River - United Kingdom

Basic Information
Site Name
Bencrom River
Short name
UWMN_20
Country
United Kingdom
Web Address
UK UWMN Site Bencrom River
Site Manager
Don Monteith
Site Description
UK Upland Waters Monitoring Network (UK UWMN) site. The Bencrom River lies in the Mourne Mountains of County Down, south-eastern Northern Ireland. The catchment area is 216 ha and rises from 140 m where the river meets the Silent Valley Reservoir to a maximum of 700 m at Slieve Meelbeg. The underlying geology is fine-grained granite with localised superficial boulder clay drift. Soils are dominated by blanket peats which are eroding in the upper part of the catchment. Moorland species characterised by Calluna, Molinia, and Sphagnum mosses, comprise the catchment vegetation, with Pteridium in the lower reaches indicating land-use disturbance in the past. Contemporary land-use and management is confined to low-intensity sheep grazing and infrequent heather burning. The annual rainfall is c. 1800 mm. Note: The area is the size of the catchment.
Last modified
2021-05-26 03:05:57

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
1988
Observed properties
Geographic
DEIMS.ID
View in site map
Size
216.00ha
Elevation (average)
420.00msl
Elevation (min)
140.00msl
Elevation (max)
700.00msl
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
UK Upland Waters Monitoring Network✖The affiliation of this site with "UK Upland Waters Monitoring Network" is not verified.
UK ECN✖ (LTER_EU_UK_073)The affiliation of this site with "UK ECN" is not verified.
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Site information [.json]

Centroid coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water rivers
Biome
Fresh Water Rivers
Ecosystem Type
Rivers
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Inland surface waters (C)
Inland surface waters (C) » Surface running waters (C2)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
10.80°C
Precipitation Annual
1800.00mm
Geology
Fine-grained granite with localised superficial boulder clay drift
Vegetation
Moorland species characterised by Calluna, Molinia, and Sphagnum mosses, comprise the catchment vegetation, with Pteridium in the lower reaches indicating land-use disturbance in the past.
Soils
Soils are dominated by blanket peats which are eroding in the upper part of the catchment.
Hydrology
The altitude range is from 140 m at the sampling station to 500 m at the headwaters. The channel section utilised for biological sampling lies immediately upstream of the confluence with the Silent Valley Reservoir and comprises a 4-5 m wide boulder- strewn channel with numerous rapids.
Protection Level (IUCN category)
Category IV – Habitat/Species Management Area
Category V – Protected Landscape/Seascape/Area
Site Type
Stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
not applicable
Design of Observation
only observation
Scale of Observation
plot within catchment
Permanent Power Supply
No
Equipment
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Relational database
Equipment notes
Accommodation in nearby villages.
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
No
Permanent Operation
No
Operation Notes
Chemistry sampled monthly. Biological measurements made annually
Site Visit Interval
30
General Data Policy
The data provider must be offered co-authorship for publications using this dataset at least within the metadata description
LTER Site Classification
Extensive