Survey and analysis of vegetation and hydrological change in English dune slack habitats

This report details work conducted under a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Natural England and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and British Geological Survey, initiating a programme of linked vegetation and hydrological studies. As stated in the MoA, the overall aim of this collaboration is ‘To improve the conservation status of dune wetlands of European importance and the condition of the dune wetland features of sand dune SSSIs identified in Appendix 1, through a major improvement in understanding of dune ecohydrological functioning.’ In consultation with Natural England, nine sites were selected for survey of the dune wetland component in the summer of 2012, aiming to partially repeat the Sand Dune Survey of Great Britain (SDGB) in the late 1980s. The selected sites hold 77% of the English dune wetland resource. At each site, all dune wetlands were mapped, with the exception of the three sites on the Sefton Coast, where the majority of the core area was mapped but not satellite areas. For each site the geological setting, surface topography, surface water features, climatic setting and land cover were assessed and the most important hydrological processes identified.