Citizen science can broadly be defined as the involvement of volunteers in science.  BRC and the volunteer schemes have worked together to gather and analyse wildlife observations for 50 years providing evidence to underpin science, policy and practical conservation. During 2007, volunteer observers for biodiversity surveillance in the UK were estimated to contribute time in-kind worth more than £20 million. Combined with experience from other CEH-led citizen science environmental monitoring, CEH is becoming established as a leader in citizen science.

Software for biological recording

Behind the scenes the iRecord development team continue to maintain the online systems needed for such a large and complex recording platform. A major update to the Drupal software that iRecord uses was implemented in late 2021, to ensure that the site remains secure and up to date, and we continue to monitor and improve the performance of the systems wherever we can.

Pollinator Monitoring Scheme

The Pollinator Monitoring Scheme has established two large-scale surveys; Flower-Insect Times Counts (FIT Counts) and 1km square surveys.

Despite huge improvements in air quality in recent decades, research consistently indicates that nitrogenous pollutants from agriculture, industry and transport are continuing to cause declines in plant species richness across a variety of semi-natural habitats. Ongoing monitoring across all groups of species will continue to provide evidence for increases and declines associated with anthropogenic pollution; evidence from across taxa can strengthen conclusions regarding large scale changes, particularly where multiple environmental drivers are acting in concert.

Habitat presence and quality is a controlling factor in the distribution and abundance of species. Widespread post-war habitat destruction led to a decline in many species and was a driver for the BRC’s establishment. Now, changes to habitats are often more subtle, brought about by factors such as fluctuating grazing pressure, eutrophication or changing climate. The recording schemes are essential in documenting the effect of these changes and in understanding the habitat requirements of species.

Biological records represent an essential resource to document and understand the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. High quality data has enabled the UK to be at the forefront of climate change research. Internationally important publications have also been produced directly from the data provided by volunteer schemes and societies.  Current projects using biological recording data include assessing the risks and opportunities faced by individual species during climatic changes and identifying refugia which may help promote the persistence of species.

In the past, species’ status was often assessed on expert opinion, or by counting the number of occupied grid cells. Our recent work has used computer simulations of the recording process to inform how we can estimate the trends in species status over decadal timescales. BRC is working with recording schemes, government agencies and partner organisations to derive quantitative trend estimates and other metrics for use in Red Listing and the development of biodiversity indicators to assess the 2020 ‘Aichi targets’.

Promoting and publishing atlases is an integral part of BRC’s work.  Atlases continue to be important for biological recording while also providing a basis for periodic review of the distribution of species within a taxonomic group.  Atlas datasets are often used for research, including many of the examples given throughout this booklet.  In 2014, coinciding with its 50th anniversary, BRC is supporting the publication of major atlases of dragonflies and bryophytes.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment highlighted invasive non-native species (INNS) as one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss.  INNS cost the British and European economies an estimated £1.7 billion and €12 billion, respectively, each year. INNS are being introduced into Europe at unprecedented rates and are best controlled through prevention, early detection and rapid response.