This document discusses how fungus records are captured, shared, and used. Fungus records are captured by individuals and environmental organizations and shared through local environmental record centers and the NBN Atlas. These records are then used for various purposes like science, conservation, monitoring species distributions, and informing local planning decisions. While fungus records have many potential uses, more work is still needed to mobilize existing records and find ways to share them that allow local groups to access and apply the data.
Mapping fish in the UK has historically received little attention but there is now great potential to map fish populations by leveraging over a million anglers visiting UK waters each year. Recent apps have been developed to record fish observations and make the data available, recognizing that engaging anglers through citizen science could provide valuable data while respecting their existing recording practices. The specific recording method is less important than making any collected data openly accessible.
The document summarizes the activities of the Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre (SFCC) from February 2015 to 2016. It discusses that the SFCC (1) provides a mechanism for standardizing data collection among local fisheries managers, (2) promotes specialized software development, and (3) coordinates and disseminates spatial data relevant to the freshwater environment. It also notes that the SFCC facilitates cross-Scotland scientific projects, provides fisheries data to inform policy, and provides training in data collection, management and analysis methods. The priority for 2016/2017 is discussed as being Wild Fisheries Reform.
Talks provided at the Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre/Institute of Fisheries Management MAPPING FISHERIES workshop in Edinburgh on March 1st-2nd 2016
The document outlines RAFTS' plans to develop guidance and a training program to support river restoration projects in response to upcoming reforms and opportunities. The guidance will consist of a series of notes covering topics across the project lifecycle, from planning to health and safety. It will provide frameworks, promote good practices, and build capacity for any organization undertaking riverine projects, from small rural to large urban scales. A collaborative drafting and review process is underway to produce the revision-controlled guidance notes, which will be made available on RAFTS' website.
This document outlines the agenda for the annual SFCC/RAFTS Biologists' Meeting to be held on February 3rd-4th, 2015. The agenda includes items like apologies for absences, approval of previous meeting minutes, managers' and chairman's reports, financial statements, election of officers, and achievements over the last year such as data provision and collaboration on training courses. Objectives for 2016-2017 are also listed and involve continued data strategy development, committee meetings, database audits, GIS maintenance and training, and improvements to the organization's website and online resources.
Talks provided at the Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre/Institute of Fisheries Management MAPPING FISHERIES workshop in Edinburgh on March 1st-2nd 2016
The Antarctic Biodiversity Portal aims to make Antarctic biodiversity data open, linked, useful, and interoperable. It was originally developed during the International Polar Year as the data and analysis component of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. The portal provides free and open access to biodiversity data through various online resources and tools. These include the main biodiversity.aq website, the Integrated Publishing Toolkit for metadata and data publishing, and the Antarctic Marine Geospatial Database and Atlas for georeferenced data, expert content, and biogeographic modeling of Antarctic species distributions. Ongoing efforts focus on applying informatics techniques to improve data integration, presentation, discovery, and analysis in support of biodiversity research and conservation applications
Mapping fish in the UK has historically received little attention but there is now great potential to map fish populations by leveraging over a million anglers visiting UK waters each year. Recent apps have been developed to record fish observations and make the data available, recognizing that engaging anglers through citizen science could provide valuable data while respecting their existing recording practices. The specific recording method is less important than making any collected data openly accessible.
The document summarizes the activities of the Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre (SFCC) from February 2015 to 2016. It discusses that the SFCC (1) provides a mechanism for standardizing data collection among local fisheries managers, (2) promotes specialized software development, and (3) coordinates and disseminates spatial data relevant to the freshwater environment. It also notes that the SFCC facilitates cross-Scotland scientific projects, provides fisheries data to inform policy, and provides training in data collection, management and analysis methods. The priority for 2016/2017 is discussed as being Wild Fisheries Reform.
Talks provided at the Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre/Institute of Fisheries Management MAPPING FISHERIES workshop in Edinburgh on March 1st-2nd 2016
The document outlines RAFTS' plans to develop guidance and a training program to support river restoration projects in response to upcoming reforms and opportunities. The guidance will consist of a series of notes covering topics across the project lifecycle, from planning to health and safety. It will provide frameworks, promote good practices, and build capacity for any organization undertaking riverine projects, from small rural to large urban scales. A collaborative drafting and review process is underway to produce the revision-controlled guidance notes, which will be made available on RAFTS' website.
This document outlines the agenda for the annual SFCC/RAFTS Biologists' Meeting to be held on February 3rd-4th, 2015. The agenda includes items like apologies for absences, approval of previous meeting minutes, managers' and chairman's reports, financial statements, election of officers, and achievements over the last year such as data provision and collaboration on training courses. Objectives for 2016-2017 are also listed and involve continued data strategy development, committee meetings, database audits, GIS maintenance and training, and improvements to the organization's website and online resources.
Talks provided at the Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre/Institute of Fisheries Management MAPPING FISHERIES workshop in Edinburgh on March 1st-2nd 2016
The Antarctic Biodiversity Portal aims to make Antarctic biodiversity data open, linked, useful, and interoperable. It was originally developed during the International Polar Year as the data and analysis component of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. The portal provides free and open access to biodiversity data through various online resources and tools. These include the main biodiversity.aq website, the Integrated Publishing Toolkit for metadata and data publishing, and the Antarctic Marine Geospatial Database and Atlas for georeferenced data, expert content, and biogeographic modeling of Antarctic species distributions. Ongoing efforts focus on applying informatics techniques to improve data integration, presentation, discovery, and analysis in support of biodiversity research and conservation applications
This document discusses the role of OBIS Canada in facilitating open access to marine biodiversity data from Canadian research projects. OBIS Canada serves as a regional node for the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), assisting networks like the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe) and Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) in submitting their data to OBIS to comply with funding policies requiring open access to research data. OBIS Canada provides mentoring on best practices for data management, preparation, and description to ensure Canadian biodiversity data submitted through them is discoverable, accessible, and reusable to help fill global data gaps.
Research of sectors for regional and local development in reserved areas.
Research of alternatives for the development of the reserved Prespa area, in a way that is feasible and realistic:
- the preservation and development of its natural and cultural values and heritage and
- the improvement of the local society’s living standards
The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) is a global open-access data portal containing information on the distribution and abundance of marine species collected by a network of regional nodes. OBIS works with various other initiatives to build synergies and fill gaps in knowledge about marine organisms and ecosystems. It provides data and tools to help identify ecologically important areas and understand how climate change may impact species distributions and behaviors. OBIS aims to integrate all available biogeographic data from around the world and make it freely accessible online.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
This document discusses partnerships between Oregon Tilth and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support organic producers. The number of organic farms and consumer demand for organic products has increased, leading to more interaction between organic producers and agricultural agencies. Oregon Tilth and NRCS established a national partnership in 2010 to share the costs of an organic conservation specialist position. This partnership provides trainings, webinars, and technical resources to NRCS on organic agriculture and helps NRCS better serve organic farmers through practices that support the national organic standards. There are opportunities to better translate organic regulations into conservation language and practices to bridge NRCS support and organic certification requirements.
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is an intergovernmental marine science organization and science network that provides knowledge and advice to policymakers and decision-makers on the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. ICES involves over 4000 scientists from nearly 60 countries conducting research across diverse topics related to marine ecosystems. It has over 100 years of experience using the best available scientific knowledge to provide independent and reviewed advice to international and national authorities on issues like environmental legislation, fishing, and conservation policy.
The document discusses biodiversity data from Antarctica and efforts to make it freely accessible online. It describes several initiatives including SCAR-MarBIN, ANTABIF, and GBIF that host Antarctic biodiversity data and enable users to access over 1 million records. Examples of applications for the data are also provided, such as modeling species distributions, examining responses to climate change, and designing targeted scientific expeditions. Challenges in fully realizing the potential of the data are also discussed.
Parker allie_Mobilising biodiversity data for science and policy in South Afr...Fatima Parker-Allie
Biodiversity Informatics in South Africa, as in other parts of the world, is a young and dynamic field of science, which translates into an enormous challenge for biodiversity scientists. Understanding mechanisms for information sharing in this landscape has been successful over time. The South African National Biodiversity Institute, houses the GBIF Node, and supports a knowledge-management platform, which makes biodiversity data freely and openly available. The South African Biodiversity Information Facility (SABIF) is a major publisher of biodiversity data, making >11.5 million biodiversity data records available, from a growing network of more than 15 organisations, to the global scientific community. Data standards such as the Darwin Core, and protocols such as TAPIR and the Integrated Publishing Toolkit have been used. Data sharing takes place through both funded and non-funded mechanisms, to initiate digitization activities. A comprehensive policy framework has also been put in place by SANBI, to enable data sharing which takes into account intellectual property rights, citations and sensitive data. The scope of data of types being mobilized is increasing through the Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme with species, specimens, observation, images and molecular data being mobilised, and made accessible. The Information Architecture is evolving to support these data types and to ensure that relevant data can be accessed efficiently in support of science, policy and decision making.
This presentation introduces the UK Treescapes Ambassador team and the research projects and research fellows they have funded under the programme.
The presentation also looks at some of the research being carried out at the CCRI on Trees, Woods and Forests.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility - 2013Dag Endresen
Presentation of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), GBIF-Norway and the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC, Artsdatabanken) at the Norwegian Institute for Forestry and Landscape (Skog og Landskap) at Ås outside Oslo on the 17th October 2013. Seminar together with the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC, Artsdatabanken).
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is a charitable research institute established in 1933 that combines professional and citizen science to study changes in wildlife populations. Over 40,000 volunteers contribute long-term data on bird populations, like the Breeding Bird Survey, spanning over 50 years. BTO ecologists conduct research on ecological change, wetland and marine environments, population modeling, and land use. The career paths of sample BTO ecologists show backgrounds in zoology, environmental biology, and ecology degrees followed by PhD research and roles monitoring surveys and analyzing data.
The document discusses postgraduate conservation programmes offered through the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent in the UK. It describes the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) as the leading UK research center dedicated to conserving biodiversity through innovative research. DICE aims to conduct interdisciplinary research that informs conservation policy and practice, disseminate knowledge, build capacity in the conservation sector through research-led teaching, and strive for sustainable development. The document provides examples of recent DICE research projects and outlines the school's taught master's programmes in conservation, modules, resources for research, and career outcomes of past graduates.
Thinking Strategically about nature at the county and regional level by Kate ...Sussex Wildlife Trust
The document discusses strategic planning for nature conservation at the county and regional level in Sussex through the Sussex Local Nature Partnership. It outlines the partnership's work on developing a Natural Capital Investment Strategy to identify and prioritize areas for protecting, enhancing, and expanding natural assets to deliver benefits like clean water, flood protection, and accessible nature. Principles for the partnership's efforts on a Nature Recovery Network emphasize taking a collaborative approach across the region to create connected habitats in both rural and urban areas that support climate resilience and balance objectives for people and nature.
Developing the field of Biodiversity Informatics in South Africa through the ...Fatima Parker-Allie
This document discusses developing the field of biodiversity informatics in South Africa. It outlines how biodiversity data and informatics tools can help address key biodiversity challenges. It discusses establishing a Centre for Biodiversity Information Management to develop the field through curriculum, research on data management, and niche modeling. The research project aims to model fish species distributions under climate change using primary biodiversity data from GBIF to assess impacts on commercially exploited species important for food security. Establishing the field involves various partnerships and building human capital through training and research.
Our place in an organisation that cares for the natural resources of WalesCILIP
Natural Resources Wales has embedded sustainable principles in all its work. In this session Kester Savage and Joanne Hindes explain how library and information services fit into the wider sustainability goals of the organisation and the challenges faced in putting sustainability in front and centre of their work.
This document describes the development of an online spatial database called the Australian Indigenous Biocultural Knowledge (AIBK) database. The database was created by an working group to compile and map publicly available documentation on Indigenous biocultural knowledge in Australia. It currently includes over 1,500 documents, of which 568 are georeferenced. The goal is to increase awareness of documented Indigenous knowledge, identify gaps, and promote collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and land managers. The database is intended to support natural and cultural resource management by making Indigenous knowledge more accessible.
The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) is a decentralized network of databases in India that provides environmental information to various groups. It was established in 1982-1983 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. ENVIS serves as India's focal point for the UN Environment Programme's global environmental information network. It aims to build repositories of environmental data, develop information technologies, and disseminate relevant information to users. Each ENVIS center focuses on a specific topic and works to collect, analyze, and share data on its subject area.
This document discusses the role of OBIS Canada in facilitating open access to marine biodiversity data from Canadian research projects. OBIS Canada serves as a regional node for the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), assisting networks like the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe) and Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) in submitting their data to OBIS to comply with funding policies requiring open access to research data. OBIS Canada provides mentoring on best practices for data management, preparation, and description to ensure Canadian biodiversity data submitted through them is discoverable, accessible, and reusable to help fill global data gaps.
Research of sectors for regional and local development in reserved areas.
Research of alternatives for the development of the reserved Prespa area, in a way that is feasible and realistic:
- the preservation and development of its natural and cultural values and heritage and
- the improvement of the local society’s living standards
The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) is a global open-access data portal containing information on the distribution and abundance of marine species collected by a network of regional nodes. OBIS works with various other initiatives to build synergies and fill gaps in knowledge about marine organisms and ecosystems. It provides data and tools to help identify ecologically important areas and understand how climate change may impact species distributions and behaviors. OBIS aims to integrate all available biogeographic data from around the world and make it freely accessible online.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
This document discusses partnerships between Oregon Tilth and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support organic producers. The number of organic farms and consumer demand for organic products has increased, leading to more interaction between organic producers and agricultural agencies. Oregon Tilth and NRCS established a national partnership in 2010 to share the costs of an organic conservation specialist position. This partnership provides trainings, webinars, and technical resources to NRCS on organic agriculture and helps NRCS better serve organic farmers through practices that support the national organic standards. There are opportunities to better translate organic regulations into conservation language and practices to bridge NRCS support and organic certification requirements.
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is an intergovernmental marine science organization and science network that provides knowledge and advice to policymakers and decision-makers on the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. ICES involves over 4000 scientists from nearly 60 countries conducting research across diverse topics related to marine ecosystems. It has over 100 years of experience using the best available scientific knowledge to provide independent and reviewed advice to international and national authorities on issues like environmental legislation, fishing, and conservation policy.
The document discusses biodiversity data from Antarctica and efforts to make it freely accessible online. It describes several initiatives including SCAR-MarBIN, ANTABIF, and GBIF that host Antarctic biodiversity data and enable users to access over 1 million records. Examples of applications for the data are also provided, such as modeling species distributions, examining responses to climate change, and designing targeted scientific expeditions. Challenges in fully realizing the potential of the data are also discussed.
Parker allie_Mobilising biodiversity data for science and policy in South Afr...Fatima Parker-Allie
Biodiversity Informatics in South Africa, as in other parts of the world, is a young and dynamic field of science, which translates into an enormous challenge for biodiversity scientists. Understanding mechanisms for information sharing in this landscape has been successful over time. The South African National Biodiversity Institute, houses the GBIF Node, and supports a knowledge-management platform, which makes biodiversity data freely and openly available. The South African Biodiversity Information Facility (SABIF) is a major publisher of biodiversity data, making >11.5 million biodiversity data records available, from a growing network of more than 15 organisations, to the global scientific community. Data standards such as the Darwin Core, and protocols such as TAPIR and the Integrated Publishing Toolkit have been used. Data sharing takes place through both funded and non-funded mechanisms, to initiate digitization activities. A comprehensive policy framework has also been put in place by SANBI, to enable data sharing which takes into account intellectual property rights, citations and sensitive data. The scope of data of types being mobilized is increasing through the Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme with species, specimens, observation, images and molecular data being mobilised, and made accessible. The Information Architecture is evolving to support these data types and to ensure that relevant data can be accessed efficiently in support of science, policy and decision making.
This presentation introduces the UK Treescapes Ambassador team and the research projects and research fellows they have funded under the programme.
The presentation also looks at some of the research being carried out at the CCRI on Trees, Woods and Forests.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility - 2013Dag Endresen
Presentation of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), GBIF-Norway and the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC, Artsdatabanken) at the Norwegian Institute for Forestry and Landscape (Skog og Landskap) at Ås outside Oslo on the 17th October 2013. Seminar together with the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC, Artsdatabanken).
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is a charitable research institute established in 1933 that combines professional and citizen science to study changes in wildlife populations. Over 40,000 volunteers contribute long-term data on bird populations, like the Breeding Bird Survey, spanning over 50 years. BTO ecologists conduct research on ecological change, wetland and marine environments, population modeling, and land use. The career paths of sample BTO ecologists show backgrounds in zoology, environmental biology, and ecology degrees followed by PhD research and roles monitoring surveys and analyzing data.
The document discusses postgraduate conservation programmes offered through the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent in the UK. It describes the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) as the leading UK research center dedicated to conserving biodiversity through innovative research. DICE aims to conduct interdisciplinary research that informs conservation policy and practice, disseminate knowledge, build capacity in the conservation sector through research-led teaching, and strive for sustainable development. The document provides examples of recent DICE research projects and outlines the school's taught master's programmes in conservation, modules, resources for research, and career outcomes of past graduates.
Thinking Strategically about nature at the county and regional level by Kate ...Sussex Wildlife Trust
The document discusses strategic planning for nature conservation at the county and regional level in Sussex through the Sussex Local Nature Partnership. It outlines the partnership's work on developing a Natural Capital Investment Strategy to identify and prioritize areas for protecting, enhancing, and expanding natural assets to deliver benefits like clean water, flood protection, and accessible nature. Principles for the partnership's efforts on a Nature Recovery Network emphasize taking a collaborative approach across the region to create connected habitats in both rural and urban areas that support climate resilience and balance objectives for people and nature.
Developing the field of Biodiversity Informatics in South Africa through the ...Fatima Parker-Allie
This document discusses developing the field of biodiversity informatics in South Africa. It outlines how biodiversity data and informatics tools can help address key biodiversity challenges. It discusses establishing a Centre for Biodiversity Information Management to develop the field through curriculum, research on data management, and niche modeling. The research project aims to model fish species distributions under climate change using primary biodiversity data from GBIF to assess impacts on commercially exploited species important for food security. Establishing the field involves various partnerships and building human capital through training and research.
Our place in an organisation that cares for the natural resources of WalesCILIP
Natural Resources Wales has embedded sustainable principles in all its work. In this session Kester Savage and Joanne Hindes explain how library and information services fit into the wider sustainability goals of the organisation and the challenges faced in putting sustainability in front and centre of their work.
This document describes the development of an online spatial database called the Australian Indigenous Biocultural Knowledge (AIBK) database. The database was created by an working group to compile and map publicly available documentation on Indigenous biocultural knowledge in Australia. It currently includes over 1,500 documents, of which 568 are georeferenced. The goal is to increase awareness of documented Indigenous knowledge, identify gaps, and promote collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and land managers. The database is intended to support natural and cultural resource management by making Indigenous knowledge more accessible.
The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) is a decentralized network of databases in India that provides environmental information to various groups. It was established in 1982-1983 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. ENVIS serves as India's focal point for the UN Environment Programme's global environmental information network. It aims to build repositories of environmental data, develop information technologies, and disseminate relevant information to users. Each ENVIS center focuses on a specific topic and works to collect, analyze, and share data on its subject area.
GFW Office Hours: How to Use Planet Imagery on Global Forest Watch_June 11, 2024Global Forest Watch
Earlier this year, we hosted a webinar on Deforestation Exposed: Using High Resolution Satellite Imagery to Investigate Forest Clearing.
If you missed this webinar or have any questions about Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative (NICFI) Satellite Data Program and Planet’s high-resolution mosaics, please join our expert-led office hours for an overview of how to use Planet’s satellite imagery on GFW, including how to access and analyze the data.
Emerging Earth Observation methods for monitoring sustainable food productionCIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by Daniela Requena Suarez, Helmholtz GeoResearch Center Potsdam (GFZ) at "Side event 60th sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies - Sustainable Bites: Innovating Low Emission Food Systems One Country at a Time" on 13 June 2024
Monitor indicators of genetic diversity from space using Earth Observation dataSpatial Genetics
Genetic diversity within and among populations is essential for species persistence. While targets and indicators for genetic diversity are captured in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, assessing genetic diversity across many species at national and regional scales remains challenging. Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) need accessible tools for reliable and efficient monitoring at relevant scales. Here, we describe how Earth Observation satellites (EO) make essential contributions to enable, accelerate, and improve genetic diversity monitoring and preservation. Specifically, we introduce a workflow integrating EO into existing genetic diversity monitoring strategies and present a set of examples where EO data is or can be integrated to improve assessment, monitoring, and conservation. We describe how available EO data can be integrated in innovative ways to support calculation of the genetic diversity indicators of the GBF monitoring framework and to inform management and monitoring decisions, especially in areas with limited research infrastructure or access. We also describe novel, integrative approaches to improve the indicators that can be implemented with the coming generation of EO data, and new capabilities that will provide unprecedented detail to characterize the changes to Earth’s surface and their implications for biodiversity, on a global scale.
1. Fungus records: how are they used?
Clare Blencowe
misidentifyingfungi.blogspot.comSxBRC Manager ALERC Chair
Presentation to the British Mycological Society Group Leaders’ Meeting, 16 June 2018
2. Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre
• We are an impartial provider of environmental
information services encompassing biodiversity,
geodiversity and other aspects of Sussex’s natural capital
• We work in partnership with data users and data
providers
• We are not for profit and hosted by Sussex Wildlife Trust
• We are one of many local environmental record centres
situated around the UK
3. Association of Local
Environmental Record Centres
• A community interest company formed in
2009 – providing a central voice for LERCs
• We raise awareness of the services that
LERCs provide
• We run an LERC accreditation system
• We support LERCs in developing and
improving their services
• We are an active member of the NBN
Network
21. BUT – information only as good
as the framework of species
designations which we use to
focus and filter information.
Some LERCs work with local
mycologists to develop local lists.
42. Sharing your fungus records can result in
them being used for a multitude of
different things.
43. In conclusion
• Accessible fungus records are used for many
different purposes
• Local environmental record centres can help
mobilise records, so that they can be used to
inform local projects and decision-making
• Sharing records under a ‘non-commercial’ licence
is a barrier to local environmental record centres
accessing and using records – but we can find
ways around these if we work together
• It would be great to see fungus records being
used more – let’s keep working on that!
The map on the right shows the UK’s local environmental record centre network. Areas in green show record centres which are members of ALERC. Areas in red are where the record centre hasn’t joined ALERC, or has an operating model which doesn’t fit with ALERC’s membership requirements.
Notes from my first fungal foray – aged 9. It would have been led by Audrey Thomas under the auspices of Haslemere Museum / Natural History Society. There are the makings of a proper biological record here: Bachelors Button is an old name for Bulgaria inquinans. I looked to see if I could find the record on the old Fungal Records Database of Britain & Ireland (FRDBI1), perhaps submitted by Audrey, but no such luck.
I grew up and got distracted by other things. But seeing this Crepidotus species on a Boxing Day walk reignited my interest in fungi. I’d recently started working at Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre where promoting biological recording is a big part of my job. And since I’d given up a long commute I found myself with some more spare time. That’s when I started my blog: misidentifyingfungi.blogspot.com.
Joining my local fungus recording groups – Sussex Fungus Group (pictured here checking out the fungi on an old Beech tree) and the West Weald Fungus Recording Group – really helped me develop my knowledge and identification skills. And it wasn’t long before I was generating some fungus records myself.
So – back to the subject of this presentation: how are fungus records used? It depends!
There would never have been a record for this fungus if it hadn’t been for the eagle-eyes of Lukas Large from the Lost & Found Fungi (LAFF) project. My husband posted these pretty mushrooms on Twitter and Lukas spotted that they look like Mycena renati – a rare bonnet mushroom. Lukas made sure the record details were captured and made available to others via the LAFF database at Kew.
Data quality – or ‘validation and verification’, to use the biological recording lingo – will have an effect on how records are used. Good quality data is infinitely more useful than bad data, hence the old adage: “if in doubt, leave it out”.
You can’t really talk seriously about how records are used without touching on the subject of ‘data flow’. The NBN Strategy sets out various steps on the ‘data flow pathway’, from when a record is first generated through to the end user. It makes it look very straight forward and logical.
With lots of different organisations involved in generating and managing biological records, for different reasons – data flow can get very complicated!
There is a review of biological recording infrastructure going on in Scotland at the moment – the SBIF Review – which has been looking at data flow and how systems could be streamlined and improved.
With data flow, the devil is really in the detail. Who is generating records? How are they being captured? Where are they sent? How are they being shared?
This is my attempt at a simple schematic illustrating some of the complexity of ‘data flow’ for fungus records. Records submitted to the Fungal Records Database of Britain & Ireland (FRDBI) are shared with the NBN Atlas and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) under a Creative Commons – By Attribution – Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) licence. But it’s worth noting that the NBN Trust’s Guidance on the Definition of Non-commercial Use says that ‘cost-recovery’ and any use ‘directed at gaining planning consent’ is deemed to be ‘commercial’. This means that, although the records are being shared, local environmental record centres aren’t allowed to use them in the services they provide to local planning authorities and consultants.
Many local fungus recording groups have set up data-exchange arrangements with their local environmental record centre (LERC) – because they want their records to be used in the services that LERCs supply. The Association of Local Environmental Record Centres is also keen to work directly with National Schemes and Societies (NSSs) to look at what arrangements we could put in place nationally to simplify data-flows and support data providers in getting their records used, in the ways NSSs want them to be used.
Fungus records and collections can make an immensely valuable contribution to fungal science. I won’t say much about this, as not my area of expertise. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, check out the State of the World's Fungi Symposium which is happening at Kew on 13 & 14 September 2018. (I’m going – it’s a bit pricey but thought I’d treat myself.)
Fungus records are used by scientists and nature conservation bodies to inform the framework of species and site designations designed to protect biodiversity.
Local environmental record centres, such as Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre where I work, use biological records in their ecological data search services – making records accessible to a wide range of data users.
Local Planning Authorities, developers and their consultants need access to biodiversity information to inform the planning process. Biological records are used to inform ecological appraisals – identifying potential threats to biodiversity and opportunities for biodiversity enhancements.
Local environmental record centres offer services which are tailored towards meeting these requirements.
Relatively few fungus species have a recognised nature conservation designation. This can make it easy for fungal biodiversity interest to be overlooked in a standard ecological data search.
One way around this is to develop local lists which can be used to highlight species, or assemblages, which are considered to be important from a nature conservation perspective. But this isn’t a trivial task – it relies on having good data and access to mycological expertise.
Here’s Sussex Fungus Group at Seaford Head nature reserve, looking for fungi on the Moon Carrot. Knowing where species are present on a particular site can help to inform decisions about how the site is managed – and protect the fungal diversity.
The West Weald Fungus Recording Group undertakes annual surveys at a number of different sites including Ebernoe Common – a stronghold for the Garlic Parachute Marasmius alliaceus. This provides valuable monitoring information which can help to detect long-term changes in fungal communities, and inform management of the site.
Fungus records are also used to inform our knowledge of species distribution. Modern databases such as the new Fungal Records Database of Britain & Ireland (FRDBI2) make it easy to plot the distribution of records. The map shows my little hobby project – mapping distribution of Spring Hazelcup Encoelia furfuracea around my village.
Many fungus recording groups and individual field mycologists use fungus records in their own projects – studying particular taxonomic groups or assemblages of species linked to important habitats, such as waxcap grasslands.
Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre is using fungus records at the moment to identify sites which are important for fungi of the family Clavariacaeae, the genus Hygrocybe, the genus Entoloma, the family Geoglossaceae and the genus Dermoloma, or ‘CHEGDs’ – so that this information can help to inform plans for meadow restoration and creation in the High Weald.
Believe it or not, just moments before this photo was taken, all those people were looking at the slime mould on the left hand side of the photo. Biological recording can be a great way of getting people involved in learning about fungi (and myxomycetes!) and more actively engaged in nature conservation.
Fungus recording can also help to inform our knowledge of natural history – and be a way of accessing the joy that comes from closely observing the natural world.
In Sussex we publish this annual review of wildlife recording in Sussex featuring contributions from the local biological recording community. Over the years we’ve had many fascinating articles on the discoveries of local mycologists and fungus recording groups. The ‘Adastra’ publication helps to bring these to a wider audience of people interested in Sussex’s natural history.
As well as internationally and nationally protected sites, such as SSSIs, many parts of the UK also have systems for identifying Local Wildlife Sites.
Local Wildlife Sites are selected based on their biodiversity interest features, and must meet criteria which are set locally. They have no statutory protection, but Local Planning Authorites can choose to protect Local Wildlife Sites through their Local Plan policies.
With limited resources for site surveys, and with mycologists being relatively scarce, Local Wildlife Site surveys will often focus mainly on botanical interest and presence of ‘priority habitats’.
However, some Local Sites Partnerships – such as in Cheshire – have developed detailed criteria for selecting Local Wildlife Sites based on their fungal diversity.
Relatively few Local Wildlife Sites in Sussex have been selected based on their fungal diversity, but we do have some sites where assemblages of rare grassland fungi are recognised as an important feature. Would be great to have more!
Fungus records may also be used locally in identifying road verges which are important for wildlife. This is the case in Norfolk, where Norfolk Biodiversity Information Centre tells me fungus records are used in roadside nature reserve management.
And of course fungus records are used every day by individual mycologists, biological recorders and naturalists who are just interested, and want to put their own observations into context.
As I mentioned earlier, over a million records from the original Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland (FRDBI1) are shared via the NBN Atlas, under a Creative Commons – By Attribution – Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) licence.
This is an excerpt from the NBN’s Guidance on the definition of non-commercial use, setting out some of the uses which are not permitted under an ‘NC’ licence. Under the terms of use of the NBN Atlas, data users can be charged if they breach these licence conditions. See: https://docs.nbnatlas.org/data-licenses/breach-licence-conditions/
Openly accessible usage statistics on the NBN Atlas show how many times records from the FRDBI dataset have been downloaded. The records will have been used many more times than this, as people can also view and explore them on the NBN Atlas.