Case Study 1: Botanical Survey of brownfield sites throughout the North East

 

Summary: The SUCCESS project is part of the Newcastle University research program. Its main aim is to determine the performance of soils to act as a carbon sink, by engineering them to absorb carbon and to convert them into a benign state. We helped to survey 20 brownfield sites, in Gateshead, Newcastle and Stockton, recording vegetation data, that included plant species and plant cover.

Methodology: In each of the brownfield sites, 10 points were chosen covering the different habitats presents. In each point a 1 x 1-meter quadrat area was placed, and all the plant species present were recorded. The recording also included how many open flowers were present in each of the plants found. Also, a bigger 2 x 2 plots were set to record any scrub present.