Recording insects is an activity that many people enjoy and the records are valuable for researchers to assess changes in distribution. To help recorders make the most of their time out recording these insects, we’ve created the Targeting Revisits Maps.
In 2020 we developed the Targeting Revisits Map for Grasshoppers and bushcrickets. In 2021 we’ve updated the selection to include Targeting Revisits Maps for Craneflies, Ground beetles and Soldierflies.
A Targeting Revisits Map shows the pattern of recording in 1km grid squares and highlights squares that are ‘well recorded’ (with records from more than one year) and squares that are ‘targets for revisits’ (with records from only one year in the past).
Please explore the Targeting Revisits Maps and let us know what you think: your feedback is vital to help us develop this project.
At the Biological Records Centre at UKCEH we use records submitted to Recording Schemes to calculate trends in these species. But – here’s the important point – because we’re looking for changes over time, we run our trend analyses only with records from sites visited in more than one year. There are many, many sites across the country that have records only from one year. (Here we describe a ‘site’ as a single 1km square, and use records from 1990 up to the current day.) If people revisited sites that previously had been visited in only one year, then we would be able to include many more sites in our analyses - and so we’ve created this mapping tool to easily show people where these sites are: the challenge is to turn the pink squares to green by revisiting them this year!
Each site (a 1km square) is classified according to its visits:
|
Colour |
Key legend |
Explanation |
|
Bright pink |
Targets for revisits |
Sites that have records from only one year in the past – if these sites are revisited then they can be included in our trend analysis. |
|
Pale pink |
New in 2020 |
Sites that, for the first time, have records from this year. Next year these will become targets for revisits. |
|
Bright green |
Well recorded |
Sites that already have records from multiple years – these sites are already included in our trend analysis, but of course records from these sites continue to be valuable. |
|
Pale green |
Successful revisits |
Sites that used to only have records from a single year, but since this year have visits from multiple years and will now be included in our trend analysis. |
|
Blank |
Unrecorded |
Sites that, so far, don’t have any records of grasshoppers and allies in our database. |
(Strictly speaking, we base classifications on records submitted this year, so old records that have been submitted this year count as ‘new’ to the database. In most cases, ‘new’ records will be those made and submitted this year.)
Let us know what you think
Have you had a look at the Targeting Revisits Maps for Grasshoppers, Craneflies, Ground beetles or Soldierflies? Are they helpful for you and do they inspire you to record? Please let us know what you think via this feedback survey.
More information on the Targeting Revisits Maps
- The Targeting Revisits Maps are provided to help inform where you might choose to record grasshoppers and allies based on patterns of recording in the past. It highlights sites (in bright pink) that have records from only one year in the past. Revisiting these sites would be helpful for analysis of species trends..
- The maps include expert-verified data from the species covered by the relevant recording scheme (Grasshoppers and Allies Recording Scheme, Cranefly Recording Scheme, Ground beetle Recording Scheme and Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme).
- There may be other records available that have not been passed to the recording scheme, so the maps may not represent all the data that are available. Please get in touch with the scheme organiser if you are aware of data that could be added to these datasets.
- How are the maps updated? The Targeting Revisits Map uses the latest data from iRecord and is updated every few days. Be aware that recent records have not been verified, so this map should not be viewed as authoritative – see the Recording Schemes websites for Grasshoppers and allies, Craneflies, Ground beetles and Soldieflies and allies for more details.
More information on recording these species
- Note that all records are valuable for understanding the distribution and trends of these species, where ever they are from.
- It is especially valuable to submit ‘lists’ of species. A list is all the species you recorded at a location on a particular date, not just ‘special’ or notable species. Recording lists of species from repeated visits to the same site within and across years provides the best possible information for analysis of trends.
- It is best to submit your records via iRecord so that they can readily be included in the Recording Scheme databases and will enable the Targeting Revisits Map to be updated promptly. You can use the iRecord website or iRecord app. The fully illustrated iRecord Grasshoppers app (currently only for Apple devices) provides support for recording grasshoppers and bushcrickets. All the records go to the same database.
- Please only record species that you are confident of identifying, or where you can provide a photo (or sound recording) to help verify the records.
- The Recording Schemes websites for Grasshoppers and allies, Craneflies, Ground beetles and Soldierflies and allies give more details about recording these species.
For further information please contact Michael Pocock Michael.pocock@ceh.ac.uk
The Targeting Revisits Maps were developed by UKCEH with support from NERC and the JNCC through the TSDA (Terrestrial Surveillance Development and Analysis) project.
We are grateful to Brian Valentine and Charlie Jackson for permission to use their images.