National Plant Monitoring Scheme
The National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) is a habitat-based plant monitoring scheme designed by the Botanical Society of the British Isles, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Plantlife and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The aim is to collect information on how plant populations are changing. The Scheme began in 2015 and volunteers were allocated a randomly selected 1 km square and asked to survey five plots within it in different habitats.
In 2017 a new set of 1km squares were released, including one within Plumpton, which the Wildlife Group has volunteered to monitor. The square is centred on the Plumpton College Estate and much of the designated area is taken up by college buildings, but we have identified five permanent plots - two hedgerows, a roadside verge, a woodland plot and a chalk grassland plot.
Wildlife Group members, assisted by Plumpton College staff and students, surveyed the plots in 2017, once in late Spring/early summer and again in late summer, recording the presence and abundance of plant species. The most interesting proved to be the downland plot, which had orchids, harebells and other nice plants. Click here for detailed data from all five plots.
We will be returning to the same plots in future years.
In 2017 a new set of 1km squares were released, including one within Plumpton, which the Wildlife Group has volunteered to monitor. The square is centred on the Plumpton College Estate and much of the designated area is taken up by college buildings, but we have identified five permanent plots - two hedgerows, a roadside verge, a woodland plot and a chalk grassland plot.
Wildlife Group members, assisted by Plumpton College staff and students, surveyed the plots in 2017, once in late Spring/early summer and again in late summer, recording the presence and abundance of plant species. The most interesting proved to be the downland plot, which had orchids, harebells and other nice plants. Click here for detailed data from all five plots.
We will be returning to the same plots in future years.