With more than 40,000 lakes represented, a third of those with detailed information on their catchments, the scale of The UK Lakes Portal hosted by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is unprecedented for freshwater research in the UK.
The portal includes physical, environmental, and water chemistry data compiled from an extensive set of sources over many years. In addition, integration with the National Biodiversity Network displays biology data, while anyone can observe and record species observations at any lake in the UK, using iRecord to contribute new information.
Beginning life in 2004 as a GIS-based inventory of British standing waters, the portal has been gradually accumulating data to become an extensive and comprehensive resource for lakes in the United Kingdom. This vast dataset is now online and fully accessible to the public.
Professor Rosie Hails, Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said,
The UK Lakes Portal is a product of excellent collaboration between the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, University College London and the UK conservation and environment agencies. This is one of many natural capital portals that we hope to develop in the future as an evidence base to support policy and decision making."
Alongside development of the portal, a comprehensive freshwater species list for the UK has been created, including information on non-native species. This will be integrated into the portal as part of a move to create an extensive Natural Capital Hub for UK lakes, aligning the portal with a landscape approach to ecological research.
“The UK Lakes Portal is a product of excellent collaboration between the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, University College London and the UK conservation and environment agencies. This is one of many natural
Alongside development of the portal, a comprehensive freshwater species list for the UK has been created, including information on non-native species. This will be integrated into the portal as part of a move to create an extensive Natural Capital Hub for UK lakes, aligning the portal with a landscape approach to ecological research.
Links:
Additional information:
The UK Lakes Portal
iRecord Lake Species Recording
The original development of the underlying database was jointly funded by the Environment Agency, Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales (now Natural Resources Wales), and the Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER).
Contact Philip Taylor for more information on the UK Lakes Portal
Related links:
Freshwater ecology research at CEH