ADASTRA 2001 An annual review of wildlife recording in Sussex Published by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre ADASTRA 2001 Printed and published February 2002 by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre. Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre Woods Mill Henfield West Sussex BN5 9SD Tel: 01273 497553/554 Fax: 01273 494500 E-mail: [email protected] Editor: Patrick Roper South View Churchland Lane Sedlescombe East Sussex TN33 0PF Tel: 01424 870208 Fax: 01424 871050 E-mail: [email protected] ADASTRA 2001 A review of wildlife recording in East & West Sussex Published by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre Tel: 01273 487553 E-mail: [email protected] From the editor This is the first in what we hope will be a series of annual reviews giving some idea of the vast amount of biodiversity recording work that takes places in Sussex each year. We have chosen the name ADASTRA partly because it is the name of the hall in Hassocks where we all meet each February and therefore something that might be fairly easy to remember. The word, we imagine, comes from Latin ad astra meaning ‘to the stars’ and this review is, indeed, dedicated to ‘the stars’ – all the recorders and the members of the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre team. Inevitably we have not been able to include as much material as we would like. However, any groups with an active recording scheme which we have left out will be very welcome to a place in future editions. My general plan as editor is to send out requests for contributions at the beginning of October with a copy ‘deadline’ early in the New Year. I then have the month of January to edit and lay out the material before it goes to SxBRC for copying and collating for distribution at Adastra Hall towards the end of February. The main aim is to inform recorders of things that have been going on outside their groups and, in particular, to solicit help where cross-group efforts can be of benefit. As well as species groups, we hope annually to cover work on selected habitats (this year we have chosen ghylls) and one or two profiles of particular areas where there has been a concentration of recording work. This is a publication primarily for Sussex biodiversity recorders, so if you have any ideas, suggestions, complaints or other views please get in touch. My thanks are due to all the many people who have helped with this publication, especially Henri Brocklebank and Nadine Russell at the SxBRC. We are also indebted to English Nature for the line drawings which we have used to enliven the text. Patrick Roper, editor. South View, Churchland Lane, Sedlescombe, East Sussex TN33 0PF Tel: 01424 870208 e-mail: [email protected] 1 ADASTRA 2001 A review of wildlife recording in East & West Sussex Published by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre Tel: 01273 487553 E-mail: [email protected] Why this publication? by Henri Brocklebank To an outsider biological recording must seem an unusual pass-time. Butterfly nets, pooters and recording cards are not everyday items in most people’s lives! However, to those involved both directly, like the contributors to this review, and indirectly, like myself (who, sadly, can't tell a chrysomelid from a psocid 1) it is a fascinating subject that can be experienced on so many different levels. There is recording for the 'love' of it, where individuals embrace a taxonomic group and go out to understand, see and experience the whole range and diversity of their chosen group. There is the fascination of 'natural history'. Why is this particular species only found in certain habitats at certain times? What makes these species tick? There is the ‘ecological’ aspect, understanding the interactions of communities, bringing recording into '3D' and finally the ‘conservation’ aspect of using biological recording as a tool for understanding our environment so that we are in a better position to manage, enhance and preserve it. The Record Centre is extremely grateful to those naturalists that choose to share their biological data and expertise with us. The support of the recording community in Sussex to the Record Centre has been overwhelming in the past year and has enabled us to provide high quality data to over 400 enquiries and inform numerous decisions by our partners. We hope that seeing your data being put to good use is a reassuring justification for supporting our work. We hope, in turn, that we are providing support to Sussex naturalists. We want to help put records into computer systems, to help towards publications of Sussex atlases and provide information to you wherever possible. Nadine Russell, myself and our office volunteers can hopefully take some of the drudgery and confusion away from the often controversial interface between records and computers. This new publication is an opportunity to find out what people in Sussex have been doing over the past year, including finding species new to Sussex, experimenting with new recording techniques, looking at changes in population dynamics. We tend only to be exposed to information on groups that we are personally interested in, so it is a great opportunity to see what ‘everyone else’ has been up to. I hope you enjoy this new publication and well done to Patrick Roper for co-ordinating the whole report. Henri Brocklebank, Biodiversity Records Officer, Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre 1 Something we aim to attend to in 2002. Ed. 2 ADASTRA 2001 A review of wildlife recording in East & West Sussex Published by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre Tel: 01273 487553 E-mail: [email protected] RECORDER 2000 During October 2001 a number of training sessions were held across the county to help people get started on the new RECORDER 2000 software. Several are already getting into their stride with what often appeared to be a dauntingly difficult programme. Others are continuing with earlier versions of RECORDER, or using MapMate, BioBase and other systems from which data can be transferred to RECORDER 2000. The Record Centre hopes to take on RECORDER 2000 as its primary database some time in 2002, but it is a complicated system with several glitches and the transfer of 500,000 records is a tricky procedure! The last thing the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre team want to do is to discourage those with the essential skills in finding and identifying our flora and fauna from working out in the field and doing what they are best at - getting new records. If you feel either overwhelmed or underwhelmed by computerisation issues and you are worrying about the best way of keeping and passing on your records, do talk to Henri Brocklebank or Nadine Russell at the Record Centre. THE SUSSEX RARE SPECIES INVENTORY (RSI) AND THE SUSSEX PROTECTED SPECIES REGISTER (PSR) Harry Montgomery continues to do sterling work in compiling the Sussex Rare Species Inventory. This essentially lists all species with a national 'RDB' status in the two counties, plus some other special taxa - e.g. those that have only just been recorded as British and have not yet been given a rarity rating. This list covers around 3,500 species found in Sussex and records of these species are given special attention in the Record Centre. However, as we all know, just because something is rare does not mean to say that it protected and likewise, not all protected species are rare. With this in mind the Record Centre, with the help of Harry Montgomery, have now compiled the Sussex Protected Species Register. This lists all species (other than birds) that are protected in Sussex (106 species). Again, like RSI records, PSR species records are given special treatment in the Record Centre. If you do come across any records of either rare or protected species in places you think Harry might not have heard about, please get in touch with him at the Record Centre at the earliest opportunity. He is, of course, the first to appreciate that some of these records may be sensitive and confidential and great care is taken in regard to access to the RSI and PSR (as it is to all our records). Updated RSI and PSR species lists are available from the Record Centre on request. 3 ADASTRA 2001 A review of wildlife recording in East & West Sussex Published by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre Tel: 01273 487553 E-mail: [email protected] SITE FOCUS Many sites have concentrated recording work taking place on them, either for a specific project, or in the longer term. Each year we plan to focus on one, or a few, of these and have chosen Rye Bay on this occasion. Rye Bay: The Two Bays, One Environment project by Barry Yates, project manager and manager of the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve This Anglo/French INTERREG II project has been run for nearly five years by the lead partner, East Sussex County Council, and has involved several other organisations. The funding has now ended, but we hope the work and the links we have made will continue. The Two Bays are Rye Bay in East Sussex and the Baie de Somme in Picardy – separated by just 90km. of the Channel. They share much wildlife because they have similar habitats of vegetated shingle, sand dunes, saline lagoons, wet grassland, reedbeds, saltmarsh and estuary. The broad aims of the project were to study the habitats and species, and to help people manage and appreciate the biodiversity. Rye Bay includes Pett Level and the low-lying land towards the Kent border, as well as the river valleys of the Rother, Tillingham and Brede.