Skip to main content

Publications

Trends in surface water chemistry in afforested Welsh catchments

Lead Author: Samantha Broadmeadow

Analysis of 22 years of water chemistry data revealed trends indicative of recovery from acidification. Between-stream variability was analysed using Principal Components Analysis, hierarchical clustering and redundancy analysis of the trend slopes. Changes in stream water chemistry indicate three clusters with no absolute distinction between moorland and forest streams. Rainfall, crop age, base cation concentration and forest cover were identified as key significant explanatory variables. Monitoring of water chemistry in ten forest and two moorland acid-sensitive catchments in upland Wales commenced in 1991.