HOME » More about BRC » History

History of the Biological Records Centre

Mapping of plant and animal distributions

Data on the distributions of animals and plants are the basis of biogeography. It is therefore no coincidence that the first dot-map of a British plant was produced by the biogeographer Ronald Good, who in 1936 plotted the British distribution of Lizard Orchid Himantoglossum hircinum . In 1950, the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) took note of the excellent mapping of plants by Hultén in Scandinavia and launched a maps scheme for plants in Britain and Ireland . The resulting Atlas of the British Flora was published in 1962.

1964-73

The Biological Records Centre (BRC) developed from the Atlas of the British Flora project. Its first head was Franklyn Perring (1927-2003), who, together with Max Walters, had coordinated the BSBI maps scheme. In 1964 the staff of BRC consisted of Perring and two assistants. BRC held the BSBI atlas data both on record cards and punched cards. The unit was provided with mechanical equipment for data-processing, using 40-column punched cards . Although the BRC was based at the Nature Conservancy's newly opened Monks Wood Experimental Station, near Huntingdon, it was another three years before it was fully integrated into the Nature Conservancy, which had by then been absorbed into the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

In its early years, BRC acted as the main data processing and data management unit for the Nature Conservancy. It participated in international projects such as the International Biological Programme (IBP), Atlas Florae Europaeae and the European Invertebrate Survey. The unit gradually increased in size. John Heath joined in 1967 to lead work on invertebrates. He started recording schemes for butterflies and macro-moths, and promoted schemes for a wide range of other groups, including spiders, Odonata, Orthoptera and aculeate Hymenoptera. George Peterken joined BRC in 1967 initially to work on IBP, but moving across to lead work on reserve recording and monitoring. Geoff Radford joined BRC in 1968 to lead the IBP work.

By November 1973, BRC had grown to 13 staff, including two on contract to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and two data-processing staff working, respectively, for the British Trust for Ornithology and the Wildfowl Trust. Henry Arnold had joined as assistant to Diana Scott (the Data Manager) and Mike Skelton as assistant to John Heath. In November 1973, the Nature Conservancy was split into the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE), which was a research centre of NERC. The split marked the beginning of 10 difficult years during which the future of BRC was uncertain.

1974-1981

Although partial funding for BRC came from the new NCC, the centre was part of ITE, and continued to be based at Monks Wood. Some of BRC's previous work in supporting nature conservation was taken on by NCC itself. Funding for BRC declined throughout most of this period. BRC staff concentrated on promoting the development of local records centres and on international work. Few new datasets were added to BRC in this period. At the end of 1978 Franklyn Perring departed, and was succeeded by John Heath. Diana Scott also left BRC in 1979. New staff arrived in 1979 and 1980, including Dorothy Greene (Data Editor), Paul Harding (Invertebrate Zoologist) and Chris Preston (Botanist).

1982-1990

When John Heath retired in January 1982, he was succeeded by Paul Harding. A new 3-year contract from NCC provided stability. Major reviews of the work of BRC were undertaken in 1982, 1986 and 1991, each attempting to redefine the role of BRC in the changing circumstances of both ITE and NCC. Gradually, the work of BRC was refocussed so that was relevant to both ITE and NCC. Greene developed the IT capabilities of BRC, whilst Harding, Preston and Arnold set about increasing and improving BRC's data holdings. In November 1983, Brian Eversham was recruited as invertebrate data specialist. Greene retired in 1989 and was succeeded as Data Manager by Claire Appleby, who in turn was succeeded by Julian Dring. Val Burton transferred to BRC in 1982 as a data entry specialist, entering over the years at least three million records.

Nationally, there was increasing interest in biological recording. The Linnean Society's Working Party on Biological Surveillance was set up in 1986 and proposed a way forward ( Berry 1988). Through its engagement with the wider community, especially with local records centres, BRC was instrumental in developing the National Federation for Biological Recording, which was established in 1987. Thus BRC's 25th anniversary conference, held in March 1990, was marked by a spirit of celebration and anticipation (Knill 1992).

1991-2002

In 1991, NCC was reorganized. Its functions were transferred to devolved UK Country Agencies and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). A 5-year partnership agreement between ITE and JNCC in 1993, followed by a 6-year partnership agreement in 1999, provided the institutional stability to support a period of major innovation and investment in new technology.

Information technology was advancing fast, offering many new possibilities for data management and data sharing. Climate change became an increasingly important issue, recognized as likely to have a large effect on species distributions. The biggest change in BRC's role was produced by the formation of the National Biodiversity Network (NBN). This began as an informal association in 1997 and was constituted as the NBN Trust in 2000. Paul Harding, collaborating with Sir John Burnett and Charles Copp (Burnett et al. 1995a,b), was at the forefront of these developments. His contribution was given national recognition in 2001 when he was appointed MBE.

During this period of rapid change, the traditional core work of BRC flourished; two particularly prestigious atlases were those of butterflies (Asher et al . 2001) and vascular plants (Preston et al. 2002). A growing research programme was led by Chris Preston and Brian Eversham. Eversham left BRC in 1997, to be replaced by Mark Telfer, who departed in 2002. Nick Greatorex-Davies transferred to BRC to work on the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Jon Cooper, Richard Ostler and Francis Rowland were appointed as technical specialists, working mainly on the NBN Gateway under the direction of Dorian Moss. Trevor James, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to work for NBN, joined BRC in 2001.

2003 onwards

In 2003, Paul Harding retired as head of BRC and was replaced by Mark Hill. Gavin Broad was appointed to replace Mark Telfer. Dorian Moss retired. He was replaced by David Roy, who had worked for BRC in the 1990s. Most recently, in 2004, Cassie Hoyland joined BRC as an environmental data scientist.

BRC was restructured as a Section within the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), with a portfolio including its traditional atlas work, database management, development of the NBN Gateway, management of the Butterfly Monitoring scheme, and fundamental research. With aspirations to expand its international role and to take on database management for a wider range of projects, it was continuing in a tradition that dated from its early years.

Sources and references

Asher, J., Warren, M., Fox, R., Harding, P., Jeffcoate, G. & Jeffcoate, S. (2001) The millennium atlas of butterflies in Britain and Ireland . Oxford University Press.

Berry , R.J., ed. (1988) Biological survey: need and network . London : Linnean Society.

Burnett, J., Copp, C. & Harding, P. 1995a. Biological recording in the United Kingdom : Summary report . Ruislip: Department of the Environment.

Burnett, J., Copp, C. & Harding, P. 1995b. Biological recording in the United Kingdom : Present practice and future development. Volume 1, Report. Volume 2, Appendices . Ruislip: Department of the Environment.

Harding, P.T. & Sheail, J. (1992). The Biological Records Centre: a pioneer in data gathering and retrieval. In Biological recording of changes in British wildlife (ed P.T. Harding), pp. 5-19. London : HMSO.

Knill, J. (1992). Foreword. In Biological recording of changes in British wildlife (ed P.T. Harding), p. iv. London : HMSO.

Monks Wood Experimental Station Reports for 1960-1965, 1966, 1966-1968, 1969-1971, 1972-1973. Huntingdon: The Nature Conservancy.

Perring, F.H. (1992). BSBI distribution maps scheme - the first 40 years. In Biological recording of changes in British wildlife (ed P.T. Harding), pp. 1-4. London : HMSO .

Perring, F.H. & Walters, S.M. (1962) Atlas of the British Flora . Nelson, London .

Preston , C.D., Pearman, D.A. & Dines, T.D., eds. (2002) New atlas of the British and Irish Flora . Oxford University Press.

Wyatt, B.K. (1992). Resources for documenting changes in species and habitats. In Biological recording of changes in British wildlife (ed P.T. Harding), pp. 20-26. London : HMSO .