Scottish Charity No. SC024418

Issue No 96 January 2015 ISSN 0966 - 1964 Recorder News

Trends of Scottish Biodiversity Indicators Scotland’s biodiversity: finding a way forward Roger Crofts pg 1 Indicator Long-term trend What is Special About Bute Wintering water birds Decrease in abundance or diversity Angus Hannah pg 5 Breeding seabirds Decrease in abundance or diversity Terrestrial breeding birds Increase in abundance or diversity Butterflies Little change BRISC PROJECTS : Flowering diversity Decrease in abundance or diversity Freshwater invertebrate Bursary reports pg 6 Diversity Increase in abundance or diversity SBIF Conference pg 7 Moths Little change New BRISC/GNHS Bursaries pg 8 Source: State of Nature Scotland, 2013, page 3 Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum pg 8 Report of BRISC Conference pg 9 bone of biodiversity conservation. Our recent IUCN UK National AGM report pg 9 Committee report on Putting Nature on the Map suggests that we are well ahead of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Helping The Reluctant Naturalist target of 17% of the land area protected already. Monitoring of the state of conservation by SNH of SSSIs and Natura sites suggests Stuart Macpherson pg 11 that there are more positives in the trends than negatives. Report from NESBReC pg 12 Review pg 13 But biodiversity still declines. Does this suggest that protected Field Studies Courses pg 14 areas alone are not adequate or the features that are monitored are NBN News and Update pg 16 not accurate indicators of biodiversity? And, if so, why are im- provements not being suggested? I hear that SNH is reviewing Chair & Editorial pg 2 protected areas but the emphasis appears to be on the people Copy Date & Contacts pg 2

Scotland’s biodiversity: finding a way forward Roger Crofts

To read the Scottish Government’s Scotland’s 2020 Challenge for Biodiversity, approved by the whole cabinet, gives a welcome sense of the government rising to the challenge of stemming the loss of biodiversity. But to analyse the figures of the NGOs biodiversity report State of Nature gives a situation report on the real world of continuing losses with only a few bright spots. So can the situation be turned around? The devastation of commercial forestry felling - Sutherland All BRISC readers, like me, will surely hope so. But how is this to be achieved and what is likely to get in the way of progressing element rather than the reason they were established in the first to the target? place - to protect biotic and abiotic nature in a naturally healthy state. Surely, the focus has shifted too far from the origins of the We have a number of helpful approaches and specific mecha- mechanism: what I call “nature for its own sake” That is why in nisms. For years, we have relied on protected areas as the back- our IUCN UK study we have tested all of Scotland’s (and the UK’s) protected areas against the new 2008 IUCN definition

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 1 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland Chairs column Editorial It seems quite a while ago when we had the This is my first issue as your new editor, so BRISC Annual Conference. I was looking I hope it is not far off the standard that through the pictures that I took on the field Anne-Marie set. She has done a fantastic trip to the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and job over many years>With her support and remembered how we had been very fortu- our website manager’s help on BRISC’s nate to avoid the heavy rain showers. We new desktop publishing package I have got had a great visits and did find some Water this issue and I hope not too many wobbly Vole signs and a few dragonfly larvae. Our design incidents. guide, Katy Freeman, was rightly proud of the work the Forestry Commission had done. It just shows what can be done when you I have been an amateur botanist on and off, since childhood when have the right idea and the means to deliver it. walking to school across Suffolk fields I collected, pressed and identified the flowering . I didn’t go to university until my The downside of the visit was finding out that the Loch Lomond mid 40’s and then it was Lancaster because they had a strong and Trossachs National Park has not been able to work in partner- vegetation focus. I was extremely fortunate to get a job on the ships to develop some kind of data management and sharing hub. National Trust for Scotland’s Upland Grazing Project in Scotland If you can't do that there, then what hope for areas that don't have in 1995 This was followed by 13 years working in SNH where I such a designation. It is not a criticism of the Park merely a was able to do a fair bit of botanising. Now retired, I am trying to statement of what we already know - that the lack of a National improve my ID and methodological skills. However, I have a policy or steer on how to manage data at the local level is seriously tendency to get side-tracked by so many other attractive taxa! hampering the development of local recording, data mobilisation and a strategic look at the data available in an area. The frustrating In this issue there is a striking polemical article from Roger Crofts thing is that in terms of resource, or rather cash, it wouldn't be that to spur us on, and two pieces obligingly provided by people I expensive if you went for the most basic data management/ mobil- buttonholed at the BSBI conference. The one about Bute is a isation provision i.e. one person and a laptop who would be a special pleasure because I bumped into the author whilst on my contact for enquiries and to support volunteers. It wouldn't be an first very enjoyable visit to Bute in May 2014. Despite Stuart’s ideal solution but at least it would be something. reluctance, his article is a great inspiration for taking up recording. The last of the two BRISC bursary reports are here whilst the Field On a positive note, I was at a meeting with the Argyll, Wester Isles Studies Council Courses for both Kindrogan and the new Millport and Highland data hubs in November and they came up with a Centre on Cumbrae, appear in this newsletter. Millport has won proposal of closer working and increased capacity to deliver. It is a large fund to renovate the buildings into a first class Centre for very much in draft but we are keen to change the status quo, as our environmental education. Also very handy for the south, being people with a computer have no real back up and will not want to near Glasgow. continue with the data side of things for ever. Hopefully I will be able to report some positive progress on this by the summer. Lastly, do make a note of the very important launch of the SBIF publication Making the Most of Biodiversity at the SBIF confer- I was also at a Scottish Biodiversity Strategy meeting. The process ence in April (details pg. 7). is somewhat mired at the moment but I did get the opportunity to suggest nationally supporting and coordinating volunteers in- Now an appeal! One problem I will have as editor is finding volved in biological recording as one of the ten "big projects" that authors of articles for BRISC journal. Please do help by sending they are keen to take forward. I'll see if it makes the next draft of me suggestions and offers! I am happy to follow up anything so the action plan. long as I have a contact.

Back to the conference. I met John Sawyer there, he is the new BRISC Contacts: CEO of the NBN. In fact I had met him at a meeting the day before in Edinburgh. It is a testament to his enthusiasm that he has Chairman – Jonathan Willet, 7 Muirden Road, Maryburgh, IV7 8EJ gone out and met as many people as possible and found out what Email [email protected] is happening in the world of biological data and peoples' opinions Secretary – Louisa Maddison, South Lanarkshire Council, Calderglen Country Park, East Kilbride, G75 0QZ, I wish him all the best in his new post and BRISC looks forward Email - [email protected] to working in a closer partnership with the NBN in the future. Treasurer / Membership Secretary – Duncan Davidson, 140 Pitcorthie Drive, Dunfermline KY11 8BJ A last thing from the conference. Anne-Marie brought some of Email [email protected] the last paper copies of the Biological Recording Source Book that Editor - Sarah Eno, Edenhope, Yarrowfod, Selkirk TD7 5JY. she produced in 2000. Quite an epic piece of work. I think we Tel 01750 76398 Email [email protected] should update this compendium and also find out what had Website Manager - Andy Wakelin, 32 Tailyour Cresc., Montrose, changed. Rather than make another book, the idea I had was to Angus DD10 9BL Email: [email protected] put it online as web pages so that it was easily searchable and you could click the relevant links. I am still working the idea up but if the committee approve it then we should have this work finished th by the Autumn next year. Copy deadline for April issue is 15 March 2015. All articles preferably in electronic format. Lastly, I wish you all a Happy New Year. And don't forget to send Illustrations welcomed. Please send to the editor - your records in. I can be smug about this for once as I have done details above. this before Christmas!

BRISC Recorder News Issue 96 2 www.brisc.org.uk www:facebookcom/BriscScotland which is now accepted as the global standard. Whilst more cater for increasing demands for rural development, despite the informal approaches to protection, such as SWT’s Listed Wild- fact that other bodies can provide these resources. life Sites and Plantlife’s Important Plant Areas, have a very valuable role to play, alongside the fundamental role played by those and many other NGOs as owners of land and water for nature, there is no substitute for formal protection through both domestic and international designations.

Another mechanism which has been talked about for years is the ‘whole landscape approach’. I applaud the science behind this, as it has been proved to secure biodiversity. But, where are we in taking up the challenge, given some years ago by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, of adopting this approach? That is, in part, what we intended to do in my SNH days when we estab- lished Natural Heritage Futures. So let’s get on with this nationally and with all of the local councils. And let’s force the Scottish Government to review its National Planning Frame- work so that it is not just about the shibboleth of ‘sustainable economic growth’. And, let’s ensure that the Land Use Strate- gy adopts this whole landscape approach meaningfully for Rewetting for geese - Caerlaverloch nature’s features and processes, rather than being a means of finding space for renewable energy installation and non-native What’s this got to do with biodiversity? Well one of the key coniferisation. indicators of loss is the decline in farmland and ground nesting birds because of the type of cultivation regimes now practiced, the We have learnt a lot about restoration ecology theory and continuing removal of buffer strips and hedgerows, and the loss of practice which should be applauded. The trail-blazing projects winter food by autumn ploughing and sowing. On the other hand, on our blanket mires are excellent examples of what can be there has been a welcome recognition of the importance of High achieved. But we need to extend this to the extensive moorland Nature Value farming systems practiced in the hills and islands, areas. These are only slowly recovering from overgrazing by but the funding for these areas is still minuscule compared with sheep following the last round of CAP reform but are still that available for the intensive arable, livestock and mixed farm- plagued, yes that is the correct word, by red deer, which ing in the lowlands, with the adoption of area-based payments nobody seems to have a grip on. We must learn lessons from delayed until 2018. So NGOs, please again take up the arguments the expensive long-term experiments on grouse moors which about the balance of resource disposition between the two pillars are seeking to gain a balance between protected raptor species and the balance within the Scottish Rural Development Pro- and sport shooting, if this is possible, on which I have profound gramme to give greater support to farmers as the stewards of our doubts. Let’s adopt restoration ecology in practice on all of Scotland’s key habitat types, including meadows (well done Plantlife for driving this forward).

If you think I am being negative, the worst is yet to come. Have you studied what is going to happen to the CAP Pillars 1 and 2 as a result of the agreements by the European Parliament? We will be going backwards with dilution of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Code, lack of policing of cross compliance

Biodiversity loss for renewable energy - Whitelee

environment, as well as providers of fine quality food. And, ensure that Scottish Ministers and MSPs make some environmen- tally wise decisions and get Brussels on side.

I had hopes that the land use strategy, originally proposed by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in our report on The Future of the Hills and Islands of Scotland, would make a difference. But I note that the silos in the Scottish Government are alive and well and No room for biodiversity margins - Fife that the officials leading on the strategy are facing huge blockages to the more integrated approach which the LUS espouses. And and increasing demands for Pillar 1 resources to stay the same despite the warning from many of us, the Woodland Expansion or increased for production subsidies! And the environmental Strategy and the Renewable Energy Policy will continue to have component of Pillar 2 looks as though it will be reduced to profound negative effects on our biodiversity by removing habi- tats and their dependent species. I heard recently the argument that

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 3 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland biodiversity on wind farms was going up because of the protection been pushed to the western edge of their geographical range afforded to these sites. What arrant nonsense when one sees the largely as a result of the intensification of agriculture in the post construction of many kilometres of roads for each farm and the War II period. Can we really claim success with the increases in deep excavations required for each tower. The amount of habitat the number of calling males when they are not in the centre of their lost, not to mention carbon released as a result, means that biodi- natural UK range? I fear not. Surely we should be considering not versity starts from a very low base. the mere existence of the species but its viability by developing appropriate habitat under the Pillar 2 of the CAP in the north east We have successfully reintroduced some species and safeguarded of Scotland for example. And will the capercailzie ever be biolog- some that were in decline. These are good results for biodiversity, ically viable? Clearly there has been improvement of the Caledo- as well as gaining public interest, and for the most part the public nian pine forest ecosystem, but still the population is not viable. support. For example, the White-tailed eagle, the osprey, the red Are we fighting a losing battle and do we give up? I realise this kite, and the European beaver are now on a biologically sound will be read as a negative standpoint, but at times we do have to footing. But there remain problems of persecution by lawless be realistic when nature is not providing the positive solution people. Yes that is the accurate way of stating the position as the despite human intervention. law approved by the UK and Scottish Parliaments is flouted by those wishing to make money from sporting activities, by those And what about the European beaver? There is a view that the beavers were introduced into the Tay catchment because of irrita- tion with the intransigence of certain Scottish Government offi- cials and the vested interests of some fisherman to the well researched and sound conservation case put forward by SNH. It was really rather laughable that the Scottish Government asked SNH to develop a plan for the removal of the beavers from the Tay catchment. Hopefully, sense is now prevailing on that front and also on the review of the end of the so-called trial re-introduction in Knapdale. Why should there ever have been an exit strategy? Maybe because vested interests wanted that! Well the excitement of locals and visitors alike, even if they do not see a beaver, is palpable to me, so let’s make sure that they remain there are and are allowed to expand.

Sticky catchfly reintroduced to Holyrood Park SSSI Edinburgh who have a misguided believe that too many raptors are threaten- ing the future of the countryside and those who remain blissfully ignorant of natural food chains and the type of prey that is the natural feed of these birds. The public and political outcry earlier this year about poisoning of red kites on the Black Isle, the worst example compared with all of the successful red kite re-introduc- tions at other sites around the UK, gives a clear signal of lawless- ness in action and the inadequacy of both the present law and the way that it is being policed.

If totemic species, such as the golden eagle, and highly persecuted species like the hen harrier, are to develop into biologically viable populations things have to change, otherwise biodiversity will suffer and international obligations will not be met. The evidence being gathered from radio tracking of eagles and other raptor Ancient oak Dalkeith Old Wood SSSI species, a very welcome addition to our knowledge, enables the Midlothian death spots to be identified and where action needs to be focused to halt the lawless behaviour. The law needs to be changed to place a vicarious liability of protecting wildlife on the owners of Have you ever walked into some of Scotland’s ancient woods? land. Pressure needs to be put on the Scottish Gamekeepers Well I suggest that you do. They are not pristine nature as you find Association and Scottish Land and Estates to act responsibly in the Bialowieski forest of Poland or the Sitka spruce forests of the private rather than just mouthing compliance with the law in Olympic National Park in Washington State USA, but they dem- public. The policing role should be given to a body, such as SNH, onstrate that humans and nature can live in harmony for centuries with responsibility for nature and ensuring that The Crown Office in a symbiotic relationship. The trees were intensively used for and the Procurator Fiscal Service improve their performance in fibre, for dye stuffs, for shelter, and for building. But, the fact that prosecuting miscreants. they are still there demonstrates a truly sustainable relationship. It might mean intervention management to sustain the system, such We also need to seriously consider the biological viability of those as the grazing of pigs in the Old Wood of Dalkeith SSSI, but that species at the edge of their natural ranges. Looking at the distribu- is a practice developed successfully over centuries to ensure tion map of the corncrake from the inter-war period compared natural regeneration. A nice story! with the present day, for example, illustrates that the birds have

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 4 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland So to conclude, we need to make a good number of changes in our I want to focus particularly on this second feature, as I believe it attitudes and approach and in the mechanisms we use if biodiver- does more than anything else to make Bute a worthwhile destina- sity is to become one of the bedrocks of our society and our public tion for anyone interested in the natural world. The same raised policy and meet our obligations. We should make our protected beach exists throughout the Firth of Clyde, providing a convenient areas work effectively for biodiversity. We should make sure that and attractive platform for housing or industrial development, or they are linked by corridors to allow migration of plants and for intensive agriculture where the rock is soft enough to yield animals, all developed within a whole landscape scale approach cultivable soil. Not surprisingly, much has been lost or fragment- by owners and managers, and by national and local government ed over the last two centuries along mainland shores, but Bute is authorities. This means stopping the single objective land use fortunate in having several fine stretches where the impact of planning system and plan with ‘nature in mind’ and provide human activity has been minimal, or arguably benign in some ‘space for nature’. This will mean fundamentally changing the respects, despite the spread of houses on either side of Rothesay CAP support regime, improving the effectiveness of stewardship town. codes, and developing positive stewardship schemes. It means improvements in the laws to halt illegal activities. And, it means As a plant recorder, my interest centres on the vegetation, but as perhaps most of all a change in the mind set of all that biodiversity this is important for most invertebrates, birds and mammals, much is indeed the basis for our survival. of what I say will apply to these groups also. There is a great diversity of habitats around the raised beaches of Bute, from dunes Roger Crofts is an environmental advisor and campaigner working in especially in Scotland and Iceland. He is currently chair of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, chair of the Galloway and Southern Ayr- shire Biosphere Partnership, member of the IUCN WCPA Geoheritage Specialist Group, board member of FIED plc, and Director of Watson Birds www.rogercrofts.net [email protected]

What is Special about Bute? Angus Hannah

When your new editor asked me to write something about Bute, and why I think it is special, I was stymied for a moment. It is an island often under-rated by naturalists. I have to admit that it lacks the mountainous splendour of Arran or Rum, the wildness of Jura Ardroscadale oak woods or the remoteness of the Outer Isles. and dry grassland to salt and brackish marshes, fens, bogs and rock pavement, depending on soils, hydrology, saline influence and land use. On the cliff behind, vegetation is influenced by the rock type (schists to the north, sandstones to the south, with limestone and basaltic rocks at the south end). These also deter- mine the profile of the cliff (vertical where hardest, gently sloping where soft). It is now known that these cliffs were formed as a result of freezing and thawing, rather than by wave action alone, during a very cold period known as the younger Dryas, shortly after the melting of the main Scottish ice-cap. The beach plat- forms were then submerged for several millennia, acquiring a cover of marine gravels and other deposits, until the rise in sea- level caused by thawing of the North American ice-cap was finally overtaken by the isostatic lift of the land (no longer pressed White Port raised beach down by the weight of ice), which was most marked in the Clyde area.

What Bute offers is an exceptional wealth of diversity in an Remnants of something close to ancient natural woodland survive astonishingly small extent. along these cliffs: on the schists, oak, hazel, alder, willow and There are two main geological reasons for this. Firstly, Bute is occasional aspen, with ash and elm on the more calciferous sand- split diagonally almost in two by the Highland Boundary Fault. stones and juniper becoming frequent on the basalt. On exposed Half of it is in the highlands and half in the lowlands, with all that cliffs, such as at Ardroscadale the oaks, despite being obviously this entails in differences of rock, scenery, soils, vegetation, cli- of great age, grow to no more than about three metres in height mate and even culture. Of course, the distinctions are not always and are pressed closely against the rocks. It has been shown that clear-cut, but they are very perceptible in travelling the 15 miles this is an effect of salt spray, rather than merely of wind pressure. from one end of the island to the other. Secondly, Bute is near the Old sea-caves formed along the base of these cliffs when the water epicentre of the isostatic rebound which followed the melting of level was higher, and these now often provide ideal habitat for a the ice, causing the land to rise faster than the sea, and as a result variety of ferns. Elsewhere on the cliffs, drier, exposed outcrops possesses a characteristic formation of raised beach backed by have their own particular communities, with many small, low- former sea-cliff around almost its entire shoreline. growing plants able to stand exposure and drought. Heath Pearl- wort (Sagina subulata, see photo) and English Stonecrop (Sedum

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 5 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland particularly fine area immediately south of Kilchattan Bay village was destroyed in 2001 when two sewage-disposal reed-beds (which could very well have gone somewhere else) were built on it. This was entirely because its value was not appreciated. The adjacent stretch of raised beach has just been nominated as a Coronation Meadow. Bute’s sole terrestrial SSSI includes the only section of shore-line without a raised beach, along the north Kyle. Although scenically splendid, this is perhaps the least interesting part of the island’s coastline from a biologist’s perspective.

In the longer term, if sea-levels rise as predicted, change and ultimate destruction are inevitable. Increased saline influence will have interesting effects. In the event of major ice-cap melt, the Pearlwort (Sagina subbulata) photo by Eno raised beaches will be submerged, along with many of our cities and towns. In such circumstances, it is unlikely their loss will be much noticed. In the meantime, let us enjoy them, and learn what anglicum) are typical of this habitat. A very distinctive cliff- we can from them. dweller is Wall Pennywort (Umbilicus rupestris with its round, peltate (centrally-stalked) and tall -spikes.

Annuals more familiar as pavement and garden weeds, such as Thale Cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), Wall Speedwell (Veronica BRISC PROJECTS UPDATE arvensis) and Field Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis) have their Bursary reports natural home here, taking advantage of any damp, mild spell to germinate, grow, flower and fruit in a matter of a few weeks. Their seed will then lie dormant to await the next opportunity. Identifying Fungi For the most part, Bute’s raised beaches are ill-drained. Their Kate Dickens rocky nature has been resistant to the efforts of agricultural ‘im- provers’, and so there are stretches of bog, marsh or fen, often Thanks to a GNHS Bursary I attended a week long residential forming a fine-grained mosaic where base-enriched water seeps course on Identifying Fungi led by Liz Holden. Being a novice down across an acidic surface. These soakways may contain mycologist I was keen to improve my identification skills so that marsh St-Johns-wort (Hypericum elodes), lesser water-plantain I could begin recording the species found at my place of work. This () or bog pimpernel (Anagallis tenella), data could then be used to update our management plan. I work in a country park and often lead guided walks for the public so I also wanted to be able to share my new knowledge with the public.

Once we were settled in the lab we had a foray of the car park area. We found at least 15 species straight away. This would be my first lesson on some of the characteristics to record when collecting and surveying. It was important to collect from the base of the fungi

Wall Pennywort (Umbilicus rupestris) photo Eno depending on the balance of minerals and nutrients present, and on other physical factors. Where rivulets approach the shore, the increase in salts gives further enrichment, and such plants as many-stemmed spike-rush (Eleocharis multicaulis), brookweed (Samolus valerandi) and parsley water-dropwort (Oenanthe lachenalii) become frequent. All of these have an Atlantic distri- bution, rarely found away from the south-west of Britain. This points to something else that makes Bute special: its remarkably mild winter temperatures, especially along its south-western coast. Many of the raised beach communities are rich in sedges, with as as you didn’t want to damage anything that would aid many as twenty species recorded in some 1km stretches. In some identification, for example, the presence of a cortina on the stipe. areas there are spectacular displays of orchids when conditions are Using a small knife helped but fingers did a good enough job. Be right. careful not to damage the stem so hold the fungi at its base, then sniff! It was important to smell the gills; this could be a fleeting It is a matter of concern that Bute’s raised beaches have no form experience so it’s best to sniff straight away. of protection or official recognition. Their survival as areas of great biological interest has been largely accidental, and though Any specimens that we collected ourselves were taken back to the under no immediate threat, the danger of degradation from lab for further investigation. This involved using identification development or changes in farming practice is ever present. A keys, taking spore prints and afterwards, studying the spores under

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 6 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland a microscope. We were given plenty of time to practise these drugs have come from plants. I was particularly keen to learn that skills that are fundamental to maintaining biological records. recent research has shown that Hazel leaves contain paclitaxel During the week we visited birch and pine woodlands, each compounds that could have similar medicinal virtues as paclitaxel had their own unique fungal associates. Fungi names were that is found in Yew trees and has been used in modern medicine flying left right and centre, honestly I was confused sometimes, since 1992 with great efficacy for a breast, lung and prostrate cancer. but Liz had reiterated that repetition was the key to learning the names and remembering them. I had nearly given up hope As much of my work is with encouraging citizen science and when I returned home, but undeterred I headed out on my first providing nature experiences for those who do not normally spend foray. time outdoors, I find that being able to share stories of the plants and how they fit into the bigger ecosystem when working with Fungi that had been a mystery to me only a week ago were now groups, is often received with great interest. Looking at the flower like old friends to me. Angel Wings, Wood Hedgehog, Jelly with a hand lens and noticing the way the plant has adapted for Bean and Woolly Milkcap were on display as perfect specimens pollination or sharing a story of how it was used in folk lore or as as if they knew a novice would be looking at them. There were a medicine today in saving the lives of some of our nearest and fungi that I didn’t recognise but the course had given me the dearest (with the obvious caveats around safety etc.) are all means confidence and skills to begin identification through collection, of stimulating an interest, curiosity and deep respect for plants. recording and spore prints. My work with children, young people and adults will be all the more richer for having attended these lectures and I hope the information and stories that I will pass on to them will foster a love Plants and Medicine Lecture Series of plants that will result in greater custodianship of them in the Jennie Martin future.

Jenny’s preferred course Evolution and Identification of Plants .was Thank you to Professor Michael de Swiet, Fellow of the Royal cancelled so in agreement with BRISC, her bursary funded attendance College of physicians and Garden Fellow and Professor Emeritus the lectures that she reports on here. of obstetric medicine at imperial College London and Dr Henry Oakeley, a retired psychiatrist and Garden Fellow of the Royal Thanks to a generous grant from BRISC I attended a series of College of physicians and John Newton, Chief of knowledge inspiring lectures at the Royal College of Physicians in London officer at Public Health England and Honorary professor of public this summer, on health and epidemiology in the University of Manchester who Plants and Medicines. organised and delivered many of these talks. The lectures were spread over a four- month period with various talks given by eminent physicians, botanists, ethnobotanist and horticulturalists. The lectures covered topics such as the history of medicinal plants ranging from Dioscorides and the doctrine of signatures and doctrine of humours to looking at the great Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious pharmacopoeias and Herbal (1737) herbals which were amongst the first plant identification books used by the physicians and apothecaries of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Mark Nesbit, curator of the Economic Botany collection at Kew Gardens, gave a fascinating talk on Tropical plants in European medicine and how European travellers brought back novel remedies and medicinal information from the tropics which had great influence on the British pharmacopeia’s of the time.

Alison Foster, the senior curator and acting director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, gave an interesting talk in her specialist area of organic chemistry. Her particular area of study is in medicinal plants and she gave a giving a stimulating talk on how some of our most efficacious cancer

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 7 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland BRISC / GNHS Bursaries - 2015 Update from the Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum (SBIF) BRISC and the GNHS (Glasgow Natural History Society) are again offering 7 bursaries towards attending a training course in natural The conference season has just finished and as usual it has history field studies. The bursaries are for up to £200 or 75% of provided an excellent opportunity to catch-up with new the cost of the course, whichever is lower. developments and applications. One such example (from the Biodiversity Science Conference) was hearing about the Over the years recipients of the bursaries have written about how increasingly sophisticated ways in which combinations of they have benefitted from being able to attend their chosen course, remotely sensed data can be analysed such that the results that and a selection of quotes from these writings follows: might assist with site condition monitoring.

The opportunity to attend the course was great for boosting A second example has been learning about the online Atlas of my confidence with species identification” Living Australia (ALA) project at the NBN Conference, and later at a seminar in Edinburgh. The Atlas delivers biodiversity data “Having the opportunity to spend time with an expert has via a web interface that also provides various analytical tools, really opened the door to this seemingly difficult group. and the infrastructure enables different portals to be built for With the knowledge I have gained I can now continue to different users. The ALA model is forming the basis for learn about these fascinating species myself and hopefully discussions about developing a NBN Gateway portal for Scottish contribute records for my local area” data, and the Forum will be contributing to the discussions over the next few months. Do have a look at the atlas online: “As a result of the course, I have already started to collect www.ala.org.au records of species that can be identified in the field and have also started to gather the equipment to collect and identify Looking ahead, SBIF’s Spring Conference will take place at the my own samples. Best of all, due to this opportunity I will Battleby Conference Centre on Thursday April 16th 2015. never again need to come back from a survey and exclaim “I didn’t find anything!” The theme will be Making the Most of Biodiversity Data and the event will incorporate the launch our case studies publication, “This course has been invaluable in equipping me with the also called Making the Most of Biodiversity Data. Creating the knowledge and the note book to complete this survey.” case study publication has been the focus of Action 6 in SBIF’s Action Plan, and its publication and distribution will contribute “When I went back to work I was able to use my new skills to increasing awareness of the availability, value and use of to help out with an ecological survey on a bog, which was biodiversity data in Scotland. great fun. I can’t wait to pass on my new knowledge to The Conference morning session will focus on updates about the Forum’s current Actions, and the afternoon will provide an The application form for the 2015 Bursaries is now available opportunity to contribute to discussions about future plans, most for download from: www.brisc.org.uk/Bursaries.php and the probably including discussions about the data pathway. closing date for applications is the 31st January 2015. Conference programme details will be published on our web The terms and conditions are as follows: pages and a booking form will be available for download from ● Bursaries are open to anyone living in Scotland. the end of January. ● Courses must be chosen from the taxonomic courses listed under the Field Studies Council (FSC) Professional It will be good to see as many people as possible attending the Development Programmes (see www.field-studies- Conference, so please feel free to circulate the details. If you council.org) or similar professional development courses run would like to display a poster I can supply a conference flyer – by academic institutions. Please note that NVC courses are just contact me at the address below. not eligible for the bursary. ● Courses should be completed before 31 October 2015. Christine Johnston ● BRISC and GNHS are keen to ensure that any biological records Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum Co-ordinator gathered are mobilised to the NBN Gateway, through local record c/o The Wildlife Information Centre centres, local data hubs or online recording schemes depending on Caretaker's Cottage, what is available locally. We are also keen to encourage the sharing Vogrie Country Park of skills with colleagues or others. We are particularly interested in Gorebridge, applications for courses where the species/group suffers from a lack Midlothian, EH23 4NU of taxonomic expertise, and/or for geographic areas where records Tel: 01875 825968 are limited. Please make sure your application addresses and Email: [email protected] meets these criteria. Web: www.sbif.org.uk Twitter: SB_Info_Forum ● Successful candidates are required to write a short article (300-400 words) about the course, and their plans for using the skills they learnt, for BRISC Recorder News and/or the GNHS Newsletter. £15 of each bursary will be held back until receipt of the relevant article

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 8 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland BRISC Conference Report October 4th 2014 the predecessor organisation but some have been lost due to staff passing on and technology changes. Although many taxa are Sarah Eno covered, birds like Greenland White Fronted Geese especially, are well monitored, there are still lots of gaps. So, from 2014 new The morning started with a wonderful and mind stretching presentation surveys were started. SWT for example have set up bat transects, by Professor Colin Adams from Glasgow University and SCENE (Scot- tish Centre for Ecology and Natural Environment). His programme title a new surveyor has begun to look at aquatic invertebrates and a had changed to “The hidden diversity of Scottish Fresh Waters – what butterfly transect has been set up. Some projects are being carried you see is not what you get” . There is no way I can do justice to his out with departments of the University of Stirling, and of Glasgow. presentation in this short summary. However, anyone is welcome to send in informal sightings from the Reserve. Species protection dominates legislation, policy and intervention but Professor Adam's thesis is that if we only look at species we are missing significant biodiversity since the mechanisms giving rise to biodiversity are equally important. He illustrated this using examples of Atlantic Salmon, Powan, Brook Lamprey Eel and Arctic Charr. Each is considered to be a species but each exhibits variations to different degrees in phenotype, genes or behaviour particularly foraging, which raises questions as to just what is a species. In one example, the three populations of Arctic Charr in the Trossachs which inhabit three different lochs do not seem to share genes between the populations. They are not moving

In August 2014 a new and quite snazzy booklet, Tales from Our Wild Park was launched by the then Minister for Environment etc, Paul Wheelhouse. This developed from the major partnership review of the Biodiversity Action Plan which itself has 90 projects listed. The full text with maps can be accessed on-line. http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/wildpark/ The booklet is very much designed to excite public interest and picks out five flagship nature conservation projects called Wild Challenges. For each of these the public are invited to help collect data and information. Glenda Diack went on to describe these five projects in a little more detail but said as there is no LRC (Local Record between the lochs so are not interbreeding. So is speciation slowly Centre) they are dependent on volunteers and cookie cutting of occurring, like with Darwins finches, and thus increasing range of national data at present. biodiversity? This is important because implications for conservation and management are that the whole system and its Reptiles, especially adders are a particular passion of Chris processes needs protection and support and not just the nominal McInerny. Since 2012 he has been looking at the use made by species. adders of different habitats in the lower parts of the Cashel Forest which is owned and managed by the RSFS (Royal Scottish Paula Baker the Biological Recorder for RSPB described the Forestry Society). So far enough data has been collected to recently acquired Endrick Mouth Reserve which is a mix of identify individuals (different head markings can identify them), woodland, freshwater, loch edge, wetland and grasslands. This is a new site and so far it is not included on the RSPB list of reserves which can be found on-line. Some of the reserve is part of the Loch Lomond NNR and SSSI designated and part has no designations. However, their inclusion protects the integrity of the reserve. Pre 2012 most biological records were held by SNH and

Adder - photo © Lorne Gill SNH

follow their life cycle and also find their favourite hangouts - the piles of stones from collapsed dykes for example, or bracken, bramble and gorse with a sunny aspect. He also found a synchronicity in behaviour with basking, ectodysis and mating occurring at the same time. There was much more fascinating detail about their biology and it was a great boost to find that the population is probably about 500 in and around Cashel. The study has been published as two papers in the Glasgow Naturalist 2013 and are available at www.gnhs.org.uk.

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 9 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland Two brilliant field trips were organised and as your writer went on BRISC Annual General Meeting the Water vole one I can only fully report on this. However, I Saturday 4 October 2014 understand the visit to the SCENE field station at Rowardennan Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park HQ, Balloch was enthralling with Professor Colin Adams do more than justice to his tour. I rather wish I had been two people.… Apologies were received from Craig Macadam, Louisa Maddison, Anne-Marie Smout, and Chris Smout.

Annual report The Chairman’s Report for 2013/14 had been circulated previously and no questions were raised on it. The Chairman’s report may be found at: http://www.brisc.org.uk/conferences/BRISC%20Annual%20Rep ort%202013-14.pdf

There are 7 bursary places for this year; students will report back in the form of articles in the BRISC Newsletter. BRISC will contact other organisations to get funding for other bursaries.

SCENE - Glasgow University’s field station Membership and financial Report The Annual Accounts had been circulated with the Annual Report; The water vole trip took us by bus, deep into the Queen Elizabeth these were produced by the Treasurer, Duncan Davidson. There Forest Park. Here a great deal of work has been done to open up was a healthy balance of £13,300. However, £1,350 is required for forested areas and restore wetland and open pools to create the the AGM costs and also some money is needed from this total to ideal habitat. Katy Anderson gave a wonderful presentation with pay for the update of the BRISC Biological Recording Source Book huge maps spread on the bus, showing the distribution of the and some other projects. There was a proposal to discuss a £5 introduction of 1000 water voles (I think) over a several years. subscription fee for students at the 2015 AGM; this was met with These were captive bred and released all in the proper way, with approval by the attendees. The Accounts were accepted: Proposer mink control an absolute and ongoing priority. Water voles do – Brian Boag, Seconder – Graeme Wilson appear to have spread outside the FCS area but as mink aren't Membership remains similar to last year with 108 individual controlled here, this population maybe at risk. members and 31 corporate members.

Committee Election for 2014/2015 The Chairman advised that all of the current committee members had been put forward for re-election. The Chair, Jonathan Willet will remain as chairman for another year, but will stand down in 2015. Claire Seymour, the SNH co-opted member, stood down last year; she is replaced by Claire McSorley. Christine Johnston, is co-opted on the BRISC Committee for SBIF. The Committee Members were accepted: Proposer – Dawn Collis, Seconder – Jim McIntosh.

AOCB Katy showing off the mink raft. Water vole signs - pooh and food bits There being no other matters raised the Chairman thanked the four were found in the bank vegetation too. speakers, Colin Adams, Paula Baker, Gwenda Diack, and Chris McInerny for their interesting and thought provoking presentations. The Chairman also thanked Gwenda and the LLTNP for providing Ever alert, these fungi (what are they then?) were also recorded on such an excellent venue for the meeting, and also the BRISC dead wood on the way to the above pond. Committee members for their valuable contributions in organising the AGM and Conference.

As usual BRISC staff had organised an excellent conference with great field trips, hosted in a wonderful area with a great deal of research going on and much opportunity to help record what you find. Katy describing the maps

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 10 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland Helping The Reluctant Naturalist Genney (now the lower plant specialist with SNH) at a party and Stuart MacPherson he suggested we do a bit of recording. A few of us met up and helped each other learn plant structures and identification tricks It was my great misfortune to share a lift with Sarah Eno recently. She and it was good fun. This is so much better than sitting alone and told me that she had just taken over as editor of the BRISC Newsletter. frustrated with a book in one hand and an increasingly limp ‘Congratulations’ I said, not seeing what was coming. ‘Would you like specimen in the other. to write an article for the next issue?’ she asked. ‘Err (struggling to think of a good excuse and failing) yes, alright’ was my weak reply. If you don’t know anybody who openly records wildlife you could get in touch with your local wildlife record centre, SNH office, I don’t mind writing magazine articles, in fact, I quite enjoy it. university, biodiversity officer etc for people to contact. Wildlife The reason I hesitated was because I am not a very good wildlife recorder. As the Biodiversity Officer with East Lothian Council, my job has automatic associations with striding around the countryside, binoculars and butterfly net in hand. The reality for me is much more mundane. I deal in planning applications, plans and strategies rather than passerines and field surveys. In that respect I am less like an archetypal conservationist and more like an accountant.

Having said that, I do a bit of recording and it struck me that there are perhaps a lot of people out there like me, who might fancy doing a bit of recording but are stuck with in-door-boredom. This article is a kind of self-help guide for those whose interest does not match their input. I wish that I had read this sort of thing 25 years ago.

The first task is to know what interests you. This may seem obvious to some but if you are more of a slow burner like me then it takes time to explore the birds, the plants, the butterflies and so on until you find your niche. Newts - Love is blind, record what interests you It seems that everybody out there is a bird spotter but my brain is too slow to see a flash of concave yellow and recognise the gis of a goldfinch. An ornithologist once told me that birds were difficult recorders will exist in each area, and will usually welcome the to see but easy to identify whereas plants were the other way round. company and the chance to share their knowledge. Perhaps the quick witted enjoy birding but the thoughtful are better at planting. We cannot all do everything, so don’t be put off if you When you start recording, it is easy to think that it is not worthwhile cannot tell a dunnock from a hedge sparrow. Birds are important because you only know the common stuff. Bear in mind that but there is more to biodiversity than feathers. everything is of interest. Embrace the ordinary, because every plant, moth, spider or lichen has interesting features or a wider story to tell about habitat, folklore or changing countryside. Although I am guilty of doing it myself I get annoyed when I hear people say, with a touch of disappointment ‘Oh, it’s just a ...’. Every species is worth recording, and the more obscure the group, the more important is the record. I only know a dozen mosses, but I record what I can.

Look to skies but keep your feet on the ground

I remember about 20 years ago feeling an obligation to learn the birds and attended an RSPB excursion at Fraserburgh harbour. I did enjoy the day but was actually more interested in the occasional wildflower and moss that grew along the sea wall.

Another time I ‘helped’ the reserve warden with a bird survey at Insch Marshes but kept focussing the scope on the vegetation instead of the waders. I never became a birder but have become Lichens - They’ve taken a likin’ to lichens an improving botanist. If you are trying to learn a group where all the species ‘look the Going out with other naturalists is hugely important. I had no idea same’ (mosses perhaps) then collect a range of samples and spread that people recorded wildlife as a hobby until my late 20s. I actually thought I was a bit weird until I was introduced to David

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 11 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland them out on a table. It is amazing how the similar species start I am not so smart with technology but did flirt with it a couple of to look different when you compare them side by side. years ago. I reverted to notebook and pencil for a variety of reasons. Partly I just like the feel and process of writing, partly because you If you can’t find a friendly local bryologist you can always can scribble a wee annotated sketch to help you identify something develop your skills using iSpot (www.ispotnature.org). This later. Translating your paper results onto a spreadsheet also helps fantastic resource gives you access to many experts who will identify a species from a photograph. It raises the prospect of being out with a to reinforce the records that you have made. This takes time, so smartphone, submitting a photograph and getting an identification before allocate a certain part of the week to computerising your records. I your day is done. tend to do my records late on a Friday afternoon when there is little prospect of doing anything more business-like. It is also worth Of course, once you have learned a little, and become more contacting your local wildlife record centre, because they may have confident, you need to invite others out and train them. This can spreadsheets set up with drop down menus or other techniques that be daunting. I am supremely confident with plant identification mean you do not need to type in every name all the time. This is a right up to the time when somebody asks me to explain why. big time saving and prevents mis-spellings from creeping in to your Other people force you to examine your ID skills and this helps data. develop your talent. You must never be embarrassed about Biological recording is hugely important. From a conservation perspective, knowledge is power. Experts are essential but a mass of lower-ranking part-time recorders like me will deliver a lot of useful data. That, after all, is the basis behind citizen science, and it is good fun as well..

North East Scotland Biological Records Centre (NESBReC) Update December 2014. Moths - The mother of all surveys? Glenn Roberts getting something wrong. Even Darwin was clueless at one time. It has been a wee while since I submitted an update on NESBReC One big problem that plagues me is time. Most jobs lack the to the Recorder News. Since that is the case, let me briefly outline opportunity to record professionally so you are limited to what we have been involved with in 2014. In March we held our lunchtimes, evenings and weekends. If you have a family life annual Recorders’ Forum in Aberdeen. This was another successful then evenings and weekends will be at a premium also. meeting with around 80 recorders from all over the North East (and Personally, the under-12s rugby and football pitches affect me. some from farther afield) converging to listen to some interesting However, there is a surprising amount of wildlife around the edges of sports pitches. The riverbank around Ancrum football presentations and to discuss different facets and issues to do with pitch for instance, is really quite good for spring . recording and supplying records to NESBReC. The audience was a good mixture of experience, interests and ages. It is a good starting Take the opportunities when you can. Sometimes you can only point for future recorders as well as a great forum for existing manage 30 minutes here and there so try and build it in to your recorders to learn from each other. Presentations this year included: other activities. I find lunchtimes are quite good for quiet an update on the NESBReC Mammal Atlas project; Camera trapping recording. Although I can’t get away too far from the office, taking a wee notebook and pencil with me provides a motivation for biological recording; recording Spring fungi; tree diseases on to get out (when that Council report proves too exciting) and I Ash, Juniper and Larch; the viability of Scottish wildcat populations; record what I might on a walk around a park etc. riparian insects and land use change; and monitoring Black Grouse and Capercaillie on Deeside. It is not just commitment to other people’s needs that stop me recording. I have a hoverfly mind that is attracted to different In addition, we also held a conference with Forestry Commission pass-times. I have a creative streak that must be indulged, but, like the hoverfly that muses around my garden I always return to Scotland in March titled “Managing Wildlife and Forestry: accessing wildflowers. That means that I do not expand my wildflower information on species and habitats for land management”. The aim knowledge as quickly as I might do (or should do?) but it does of this event was to showcase the different ongoing projects in the mean that I am always fresh and eager when I go plant hunting. North East of Scotland involving woodland habitats and species. It There is much value in that. was also an opportunity to show delegates how they could access various biological data from NESBReC, as well as showing them Once you start recording, it is important to translate your findings how to contribute to the NESBReC database. This was a good event into digital records and submit them to a wildlife record centre. Apps are available for smartphones that can help the modern- with lots of discussion and exchanging of ideas between the 55 minded to automate this process. Smartphones are not essential, attendees. but if you like them then use them.

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 12 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland In 2014 we have also been continuing to run our Mammal Atlas Review project. We began with public awareness in order to encourage the public as well as existing recorders to record any sightings of The Forth Naturalist and Historian, Vol. 37, published for the mammals and send them to NESBReC. In addition, we are society of that name by the University of Stirling, and available encouraging people to adopt a 10km square for mammal survey from Roy Sexton, 22 Alexander Drive, Bridge of Allan, Stirling so that we can produce up to date records for every 10km square FK9 4QB at £10 in our area. Another small initiative as part of the bigger project is that we have 10 camera traps to lend out to people all across the Anne-Marie Smout North East. This has proved very popular as the boom in camera trap use increases and many borrowers end up purchasing their This excellent journal is an annual publication of the Forth own camera trap after using one of ours for a month. Records of Naturalist and Historian (FNH), a body set up in 1975 by staff of mammals are continuing to be submitted by a great range of Stirling University and the then Central Regional Council to recorders which is very encouraging, both for our Mammal Atlas provide a focus for publications and activities concerning the project and for promoting biological recording in general. 2015 wildlife as well as the environment and heritage of the Forth area. will be the final year of data collation for the atlas which will be This body grew out of and replaced several other bodies including produced as a book in the Spring of 2016. the old Stirling Natural History and Archaeological Society. As usual we organised and hosted various species identification training days at various locations over the summer including: small The current volume provides a lot of interesting reading for mammal trapping; woodland plants; how to record wildlife; biological recorders. The main article is about changes in the heathland plants; fungi; grassland plants and camera trapping. King’s Park flora during the last 100 years. The area in question is Scotland’s most ancient Royal deer park, enclosed for this This summer we again supported a habitat survey contract to purpose in the 12th Century, and although the exact boundaries survey areas of lowland Aberdeenshire. One experienced botanist have changed over the centuries, substantial parts remain the same. was employed to work 100 days between April and October at a In 1908 a local school master, Alexander Moyes, read a paper variety of sites across Aberdeenshire. Data was captured as habitat entitled the” wild flowers of Kings Park” to the Stirling NHS, the polygons and plant records on a portable computer and uploaded findings of which resulted from a number of years’ study. Moyes regularly to the NESBReC database. The project went well and produced a list of 228 wild flower species, and Roy Sexton produced a great addition to our habitat data and plant species compares this list with a recent resurvey undertaken by a number records. Hopefully, there will be further funding available to carry of experienced botanists. This survey came up with a new, out further habitat survey work in 2015. seemingly increased, list of 247 species, but sadly - though perhaps not surprisingly - 144 plants on Moyes list were not refound, 81 A physical change has also taken place for us in 2014. As some of which were natives, whereas half of the new arrivals were of you may know, a review of NESBReC was concluded at the end non-natives. A significant loss is the Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem, of 2013 in order to establish how it should best function in the though it has a long dormant period and may possibly still emerge. future. The recommendation of the review (after extensive One of the most striking losses described is that of the wild pansies, consultation with stakeholders and other interested parties) was which in 1908 formed a large famous carpet of hundreds of that NESBReC should be housed completely within Aberdeenshire thousands plants. Today the only wild pansies are highly valued Council to deliver the work of a Local Records Centre for the whole plants for sale in local nurseries. The species both in the original of the North East. This means that NESBReC no longer works list, the new list and the difference are listed in the appendix. from an office at the University of Aberdeen (as it had done for 14 years) but has now moved to the large Aberdeenshire Council The journal is unique in the way that it encapsulates all aspects of offices at Woodhill House in Aberdeen. This move has worked natural history activities in the area: thus it includes an annual out well so far and we look forward to many years of future stability weather report as well as the annual bird report and a ringing report. in this location. It also reports on the papers delivered to the annual symposium on A further recommendation of the review was that a new part-time “Man and the Landscape”. For me, the most interesting section is Data Assistant post should be created in order to support the undoubtedly that on the changing biodiversity of Central Scotland. checking and inputting of data that is submitted to NESBReC. 2013 was the year of Natural Scotland, and as part of this the This post was filled in October 2014 and we are happy to welcome Stirling members of the SWT decided to conduct surveys to find Alistair Allan to our small team. Since our relocation, our email out what might have been the deciding factors for change over the addresses remain the same but here is our new postal address and last 30 years, be they positive or negative. Readers will remember phone number: the article by Richard Tipping in Recorder News issue 93 (April 2014) where he explains how six surveys were planned, and summarised the findings. Since our relocation, our email addresses remain the same but here is our new postal address and phone number: The journal presents an expanded version of five of the surveys: North East Scotland Biological Records Centre (NESBReC) Giant Hogweed, Aquatic Invertebrate Fauna (by our own Craig Specialist Services Team Macadam), Hoverflies, Moths and three species of butterflies: Infrastructure Services, Aberdeenshire Council Large Heath, Purple Hairstreak and Northern Brown Argus. Woodhill House, Westburn Road, Aberdeen, AB16 5GB Tel: 01224 664164 It should be mentioned that the journal also contains several papers email: [email protected] on historical subjects including archaeology. All Illustrations in [email protected] the text are black and white, but there are 6 sides of colour www.nesbrec.org.uk illustrations in the middle.

Altogether a bargain read at £10.

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 13 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland FSC Scotland Ecological Courses for Adults March - July 2015

Kindrogan Email: [email protected]

Dates Course title Course Tutors Fee 20th – 23rd March Introduction to Mosses and Liverworts Theo Loizou £240 1st - 3rd May PGDE Ecology Weekend FSC Staff £POA 1st - 3rd May PGDE Primary Weekend FSC Staff £POA 10th – 17th April Mosses and Liverworts Nick Hodgetts £560 13th – 18th April Special Spring Moths David Brown £400 1st – 4th May Introduction to Lichens Rebecca Yahr £240 1st – 8th May Scottish Spring Birds Russell Nisbet £560 4th – 9th May Lichen Identification Rebecca Yahr £400 15th – 17th May Big Tree Country (1) Introduction to Tree Identification. Jerry Dicker £195 15th – 18th May NVC Woodlands Ben Averis £240 17th – 21st May Big Tree Country (2) Tree Identification for Improvers Jerry Dicker £240 20th – 24th May Birds by Character ‘Improvers’ Jeff Clarke £430 5th – 12th June Nature Photography Margaret Sixsmith £560 19th – 22nd June Spiders (1) An Introduction to their Identification Alastair Lavery £240 19th – 23rd June Flora and Fauna for Hillwalkers Russell Nisbet £320 19th – 23rd June Wild Orchids of Scotland Martin Robinson £320 23rd – 27th June Discovering and Identifying Wild Flowers Martin Robinson £320 26th – 3rd July Plant communities of Mountain Moorland Bob Callow £560 26th June – 3rd July Freshwater Algae Dr Eileen Cox & Prof. £560 Elliot Shubert

26th June – 3rd July Aquatic Plants Nick Stewart £560 3rd - 6th July Discovering Mountain Flowers Theo Loizou £240

3rd - 6th July Fern Identification Heather McHaffie £240

3rd - 6th July Introduction to NVC Ben Averis £240

3rd - 10th July Grasses Identification Judith Allinson £560

6th - 9th July NVC Grasslands Ben Averis £240

10th - 13th July NVC Heathlands Ben Averis £240

10th - 15th Juy Identifying Sedges and Rushes Fred Rumsey £400

10th - 17th July Introductory Geology in Perthshire Fiona McGibbon £560

11th - 17th July Nature Conservation: Principles into Practice James Fenton £480

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 14 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland Millport Field Centre, Isle of Cumbrae, KA28 0EG Email:enquiries.sco.field-studies-council.org

Dates Course title Course Tutors Fee 27th Feb – 1st March Scottish Island Birds Winter Migrants Natalie Weldon £225 20th - 23rd March Recording Invertebrates of the Strandline Phillip Cowie £325 6th - 12th April Marine Biological Sampling Phillip Cowie £445 22nd - 25th May Identifying Marine Species & Habitats – The Biotope Approach Paula Lightfoot £325 22nd - 25th May Marine Plankton Phillip Cowie £255 26th - 28th June An Introduction to Ferns Angus Hannah £245 28th June - 3rd July Wild Flowers and Coastal Plants of the Orchid Isle Angus Hannah £360 29th - 3rd July Marine Microbiology Phillip Cowie £380 3rd - 6th July Seaweeds Jane Pottas £225 3rd - 6th July Bryzoan Identification Jo Porter £TBC 6th - 8th July Non-Native Seaweeds Jane Pottas £245 17th - 19th July Grasses, Sedges and Rushes Angus Hannah £245 20th - 22nd July Sedges Angus Hannah £425

Promoting the study of Millipedes, Centipedes and Woodlice in Britain & Ireland

Annual Field Meeting and AGM The Lowport Centre, Linlithgow, West Lothian Thursday 9th to Sunday 12thApril 2015

Conference & accommodation is at The Lowport Centre. Details http://www.lowportcentre.co.uk/. Car parking spaces are available.

Booking: ● Please book AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you want to attend the meeting.

● The standard rate will be £55 to £60 per person per night (exact cost tbc). For this you get a shared room, breakfast, packed lunch and dinner. Single occupancy may be available for an additional £5 per night, depending on numbers attending the meeting. ● Please state your preferences – we will do our best to meet your wishes but priority will be given to those booking for the whole weekend and who are willing to share. ● Please indicate any special dietary requirements. ● A booking form can be downloaded here.

Payment: Full payment will be on invoice which will be sent by the end of January – payment due by the end of February at the latest. No last minute booking/payment.

Send your Booking Form and deposit of £50.00 to: Duncan Sivell, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD.

BRISC Recorder News No 96 www.brisc.org.uk 15 www.facebook.com/BriscScotland anticipation and there could be no doubt that collaboration was the word for the day.

You can read the full report and watch the videos of the day on the NBN website http://www.nbn.org.uk/News/Latest-news/The-14th-NBN- Conference-%E2%80%98Climate,-Collaboration-an.aspx NBN Gateway User Review As part of the NBN Strategy Refresh, the NBN Trust conducted a survey NBN strategic review of user experiences with the NBN Gateway. The purpose of this survey was to help the NBN Trust to better understand the current NBN Gateway The NBN Trust received 225 responses to the NBN Strategy Review user experiences and to identify where improvements can be made. The Questionnaire (83 NBN members and 54 non-members). These provided results of this survey have helped inform discussions at a NBN Gateway a wide range of views and opinions about the NBN to inform the User Needs Analysis workshop held on the 20th November 2014 and will development of its new Strategy. The summary of the review has now continue to be used as we look at future changes to the NBN Gateway. been published and can be downloaded from the NBN website. The questionnaire received 150 responses from England, Northern Ireland, In general the National Biodiversity Network is held in high regard, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Republic of Ireland and Brussels which mainly for the ability to access and share biological data via the NBN represents the views of 83 organisations and 55 individuals. Gateway, and also for the guidance, tools and best practice advice We are grateful to everyone who has fed into this programme of work to provided by the NBN Trust. There appears to be a strong sense that NBN date and we will continue to consult and feedback to you as we analyse members collaborate for the collective good of UK wildlife and people the results and start to implement changes you have asked for. would rather that the NBN existed than not. We envisage the results being available in the new year, but in the Despite this, there is plenty of room for improvement in both the way the meantime you can read some of the key messages that have emerged, on NBN partnership operates and in technical aspects of the NBN (notably the NBN website http://www.nbn.org.uk/News/Latest-news/NBN- the NBN Gateway). The majority of people, despite valuing the NBN, Gateway-User-Review-initial-results.aspx feel that it is not quite achieving its full potential. This is due to a number of factors within the NBN membership including competing interests, differing motivations, lack of teamwork, different technological solutions NBN Gateway Functionality update and approaches being used. Key messages in the responses to the questionnaire related to Leadership, The NBN Gateway team has released a revised version of the NBN Data, Technology, Communication and promotion and Support for the Metadata Form (version 3.3). The main change is in the NBN Network. You can read the full review online at Gateway Data Provider Agreement - section F - and it now covers http://www.nbn.org.uk/nbn_wide/media/Documents/Publications/NBN- both new and updated datasets so the metadata form is only Strategy-Refresh-2014-web-version.pdf required for new datasets. Once they are using this updated form, data providers will no longer need to submit the metadata form for Did You Know? updated datasets (unless they wish to update the metadata as part New checklists in UK Species Inventory of the import process or change the public access level). This should make it easier for data providers submitting datasets to the NBN The latter half of 2014 has seen some excellent new checklists making Gateway and will make the data upload process more efficient. their way into the UK Species Inventory, with the arrival of the MSBIAS marine checklist and the GBNNSIP checklist of non-native species. These NBN Scottish workshop lists are different in scale - the marine list numbered over 22570 names while the non-natives numbered around 3050 - but both have been long As part of the Strategic Review, workshops were carried out across the UK awaited and have great potential to help recorders. in October and November. The Scottish workshop (23rd October) was The MSBIAS list has been derived from UK data supplied by WoRMS, attended by 8 separate organisations plus NBN Trust representatives. the World Register of Marine Species, a very well respected and up to The Objectives for the workshops were: date resource. This has now been adopted by Marine Recorder users, • To provide feedback on the results from the strategy refresh questionnaire bringing the most significant update to marine since the Ulster • To highlight and discuss major issues and ensure all voices are heard Museum list was produced. • To brainstorm ways forward for the NBN The GBNNSIP checklist contains all of the species that are recognised • To detail the timeframe and process for the final stages of the refresh as non-native, along with their GB Establishment Status, held in the taxonomic designation system. By using the taxon designations it gives This workshop also provided a forum for people to meet and network and the ability to layer-in extra statuses when things like degrees of to continue strengthening the collaborative nature of the National invasiveness are agreed upon. Currently the checklist can be used to Biodiversity Network. The results of all the UK workshops are currently display the GB Establishment Status against a taxon and, with some being collated and will be published in the new year. coding, can be used as a filter to extract observations for species that occur on the list - allowing local maps/lists of non-native species to be created. This workshop also provided a forum for people to meet and network and to continue strengthening the collaborative nature of Nature Near Me the National Biodiversity Network. The results of all the UK Nature Near Me is a new project developed by Tom August (Centre for workshops are currently being collated and will be published in the Ecology & Hydrology). The aim is to make data held on the NBN new year. Gateway available via Twitter. Whether you want to know what wildlife is in your area, get an interactive map for a species of interest, or get sat NBN Conference nav directions to nearby sightings, the Nature Near Me Twitter account The 14th NBN Conference ‘Climate, Collaboration and Collection’, took can do it. place at the Royal Society, London on Friday 21st November. 170 The project works by using an automated Twitter account, delegates attended, representing the diversity of the NBN to discuss the @NatureNearMe. When a Tweet is sent to this account it uses simple new direction of travel, catch up with colleagues from across the Network, rules to work out what the user wants and then uses the NBN Web listen to a series of thought provoking talks and most of all, celebrate how Services to supply the answer. far we have come and talk about the future of the Network under the new It is hoped that this service will act to engage people using Twitter (80% NBN Strategy. The energy at the Conference was one of excitement and of whom do so on their phone, and most are 18-29), and highlight to developers the power of the NBN Web Services.

BRISC Recorder News Issue 96 16 www.brisc.org.uk www:facebookcom/BriscScotland