Interesting stuff.
Late last year I bought a 5 acre meadow and since then I have been taking (mental) notes of what is there - flora and fauna - and thinking what I can do to enhance the environment. Since I have had it less than a year I am already finding it astonishing and surprising what the different seasons are bringing. And this piece of land was hardly unknown to me before I purchased it - I'd walked across it many times when out for a ramble in previous years. But now it's mine I have a keener interest and I am very surprised and pleased by exactly what I'm noticing.
I haven't gone so far as making actual physical notes or a database to track changes.
I think I probably should.
Broch - I'd be grateful for any advice on how you went about doing yours. Where you decided to start, how you record findings, what you do track and trace changes, etc.
Please excuse this rather long and meandering answer; it has become something of a passion
I decided that it was fundamental, before making any changes to a piece of land, to understand what is there and form my management plan around that. So, in my case, whereas I want the best bio-diversity the land can support that must not be at the expense of what is already there. For me, that means preserving some of the darker, more enclosed, damp areas that have mosses, lichens, liverworts, and fungi whilst opening up some areas on the edge to create a transition. I also have a no-introductions policy – so anything that develops is because it was there, supressed or dormant, or arrives naturally.
I learnt a lesson some 26 years ago when I excluded all grazing from a small woodland to encourage an understory – we lost all the primroses! However, in balance, we now have some dense understory for a wide range of wildlife and bluebells are back.
I divided my land (not physically but on a plan) into areas that I felt may have differing species – I’ve probably gone too far but it allows me to record differences between areas on the edge of the wood and in the centre, or along the tracks, for example.
I’ve also learnt, very quickly, that even in a relatively small area there are too many species to identify and record. So, we stick to learning a few at a time and keep going over the same material again and again – double checking our ID and knowledge. We have started with relatively easy ones – we’re quite competent with the birds and mammals, a few reptiles and lizards; there aren’t many species so they’re easy. I haven’t started with bats and will get a bat detector for that.
I’ve always thought I knew a fair bit about plants, but you’ll soon discover there are variations and hybrids as well as orders of magnitude more species than you first thought. But, don’t let that put you off or dissuade you – stick to the more obvious ones first and before you know it you’ll be down on your knees looking at the beautiful forms of some flowers too small to appreciate without a magnifying glass.
If you can handle Excel it makes a good platform for recording your data – you can search and sort it quite easily; although you could do that with Word as well. If you were inclined, you could change the Excel sheets into an Access database at a later stage but it’s not necessary.
I have created a sheet per topic – I’ve chosen:
- Trees
- Plants, shrubs and vines
- Lichens
- Fungi
- Birds
- Mammals
- Reptiles and amphibians
- Insects and spiders
- Moluscs and worms
Some, we’ve made great inroads on – others very little; but we get new species all the time.
For each I record the common name, the scientific name, where it was seen, when it was first seen and when it was last seen. I have a final field for general notes where I might record a specific diagnostic feature that helps me remember a species – or other information of interest.
We’ve been on a few Field Studies Council courses – me on Fungi and my wife on woodland plants and ferns; they really do get you into the topic and are good value for money. We’re also members of our local Field Studies Group that arrange workshops each year – we’ve done meadow bugs, and dragon flies and damsel flies, as well as days out doing surveys with people with a lot more knowledge than us.
I got a bit frustrated by it all when I realised the topic was far bigger than I expected (there are 300 species of hover fly, 900 species of macro moths, in the order of 27,000 species of insects in the UK) but, now, I’ve accepted I can only identify some main ones – indicators if you like – and will learn others as opportunity arises.
So, I think, my main advice is: relax, enjoy it, and accept the subject matter is too huge for one lifetime, and learn something new each time you go out
Again, apologies for the length of the post, but, if you're ever in the area, get in touch and I'll gladly show you what we've done.
