Introduction to Biological Recording

Biological recording is the act of documenting sightings of a species. The documented sightings are then subsequently sent to be verified by an expert in the field and, once verified, they are stored in a location, such as a records centre database. It is after these steps that a sighting becomes a record.

An essential component of the ecological science of an area or species, biological recording is experiencing a renaissance, thanks to the effort of conservationists emphasising its importance and eagerness of individuals to participate!

There are a number of key reasons why we record, these are as follows:

• To know what is there
• To inform effective management of species
• To know if there are any special protected species in a specific area
• To help inform development affecting species that may require mitigation measures– To monitor population changes
• To improve knowledge and understanding of a species
• Statutory requirements to record certain species

Most of us who are out and about in the countryside or parklands can participate in recording quite easily. There are only 4 essential and equally important criteria that need to be met in order to have a sighting successfully stored as a record. These are:

Who?

• Name and a contact point for the recorder (email/telephone)
• We need to know who the recorder is for two purposes. Firstly so you can potentially be contacted in the event of need for verification. Secondly to aid the verification process, because if you are either an expert or known to be building up your skills and ability to identify species then your sightings are more likely to be readily accepted into the database.

What?

• Name of what you have seen. Common name, good, scientific (Latin) name, perfect!
• Usually species level identification is preferred, but Family or Genus level is sometimes acceptable.
• This understandably one of the most obvious criteria needed for a record.

Where?

• 6 figure grid reference for the location of the sighting is ideal. GPS location is also good.
• Noting where the species was spotted will help experts who verify your sightings to be able to go and spot the species for themselves, to help confirm your sighting and convert it into a record.
• Depending on the species (e.g. plant, insect, bird) it is important to record to appropriate scale, for example 8/10 figure grid references for plants/bird nests whereas 4/6 figures for birds/animals & insects.
•  Beware of potential for migratory species too, they may just be passing through an area so it may be more important in this instance to have a more specific location.

When?

• Time of day (more necessary for fauna) and date.
• For essentially the same reason above. Lots of species are ‘creatures of habit’ and may well turn up at a similar time on a different day. This helps experts to be able to verify your sighting.

It is worth remembering that unless your sighting is verified it can’t become a record!

So it is important to ensure you note down Who, What, Where, When, if you make a sighting!

Additional useful information

If possible, photos usually can help considerably when it comes to identification. Especially if a species is uncommon or rare in the area.

Handy Tools

If you see something and you are unsure what it is, but have either a photo or a description, then use an identification platform such as iSpot to see if it can be identified by others. You can find more about iSpot here: http://www.ispotnature.org/communities/uk-and-ireland

Grab-a-grid (http://www.bnhs.co.uk/focuson/grabagridref/html/) very useful to produce location for ‘Where?’.

There are plenty of identification guides or online resources to help you identify what you have seen. For useful guides go to the Identification Guides page this link needs to be changed when page released on live site.

The level of accuracy, of the information that you can provide will vary from species to species. It is also recognised that you will sometimes see something out and about in your travels but not have the ways or means to be able to record it there and then. In an ideal world your name, species, 6 figure grid ref, and time and date is what you need. However there may understandably be small inaccuracies if you are noting a sighting later on.

For example you see a fox in a bit of scrub along a road verge. You return home a couple of hours later to record the sighting but can’t precisely remember the time you saw it or where exactly it was along a road (but you know what road it was). In this case your best estimation is far more useful than not providing any information at all.

Needs a final note about the recording process that links to the next page on recording process flows
e.g. What happens next?
Once you have documented all the relevant information, there are several ways to submit your sighting for verification and inclusion in the records data base and shown in the recording process flows chart.