DATASET TITLE: Cutting Peat: The Historical Ecology and Dissection of the Chat Moss Ecosystem PUBLICATIONS: Cutting Peat: The Historical Ecology and Dissection of the Chat Moss Ecosystem in Mires and Peat. AUTHORS: Andrew Osborne: PhD Student, Manchester Metropolitan University Stuart Marsden: Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University Simon Caporn: Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University Emma Coulthard: Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University SUMMARY: Peatland is a biotope of international importance, because of its unique flora and fauna and, when in good condition, the potential for globally significant carbon sequestration and storage. Chat Moss is a peatland on the edge of the Greater Manchester conurbation in the northwest of England, the largest of a system of peatlands along the Mersey Valley. Peatland habitat on Chat Moss has been decimated over the past 200-300 years. However, it is now the site of a landscape scale ecosystem restoration programme. This investigation was conducted using written accounts, historical maps and biological recordings, supplemented by modern studies to examine the evidence for the original extent, landscape and species of the Chat Moss ecosystem, and define the mechanisms and timeframe of anthropogenic impacts on the landscape and ecology. The cartographic evidence shows that the maximum extent of Chat Moss was 36 square kilometres. Land use change, with drainage, peat cutting and conversion to agriculture was, most rapid between 1779 and 1898 resulting in complete loss of primaeval peatland habitat and associated flora and fauna by the middle of the 20th century. Chat Moss is located at the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution; during the 1800s Merseyside and south Lancashire were one of the UKs largest generators of sulphur pollution due to unregulated chemical works employing the Leblanc alkali process. The resulting acid rain (HCl, SO2, H2S) contributed to the habitat degradation and loss of Sphagnum moss on the neighbouring lowland peatlands. Having a clear understanding of an ecosystems baseline condition, as well as the factors responsible for habitat degradation, is essential for informing habitat restoration efforts and species reintroduction programmes. LICENSE: ODC_BY Open Data Commons Attribution THE FOLLOWING FILES HAVE BEEN ARCHIVED: Areas.csv Area attributes extracted from polygons in QGIS ---- CM_2.5kBuffer_AllSpecies.csv Large data download of Lepidoptera recordings from the NBN Atlas ---- Chat Moss_Sphagnum_NBNAtlas.csv Download of Sphagnum recordings from the NBN Atlas ---- Lep_Recordings_Data.xlsx 47 indicator species records filtered from the NBN Atlas download, with additional records added from a manual search of the wider area. ---- 2.5k_Buffer_Lep_Results.xlsx Summarised results of the 47 indicator species records used for table in Appendix 1. ---- Area_Analysis.R Processing of area data, area stats and plot used in Figure 4. ---- CM_Leps_BiologicalRecordings_AllSpecies.R Processing Lepidoptera recordings data. ---- CM_Leps_Stats.R Code for estimating extinction dates and chi-sq test of the numbers of records.