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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

In the next version of Recorder (6.14) we have introduced some new functionality which is intended to both improve and make easier the task of reporting on species designations. Within the report wizard you will be able to choose 'sets' of designations on which to filter records. We have drafted a few initial groups of these 'sets'  with a little external help but would greatly appreciate any feedback and comments on these so far. The details of the groupings can be found in the following spreadsheet: http://forums.nbn.org.uk/uploads.php?file=designation%20groups.xls but the broad outline of the 'sets' are as follows:

All Designated Species excluding Northern Ireland (All European, W&C, Cons Regs, Red Lists)
All European Designated (Birds Dir, H&S, Berne, Bonn)
All UK Legally Protected (W&C Act, Badgers and Cons Regs)
Wildlife & Countryside Act (All Schedules)
IUCN Red Lists (excl BoCC)
Biodiversity Action Plan species (2007)
NI Wildlife Order

Do these make sense to you in terms of reporting on species designations? Would you use them? Can you think of others that would be more appropriate to your needs?

It would be best to post comments below this post as others can then feed into the debate.
Many thanks in advance for your input.
Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Thanks Lynn. In looking at the groups, something occurred to me that I am not sure has been brought up before: it's important that, when reporting, more than one group is selectable for reporting against. So, for instance, we might need to report against W&CA species AND BAP species.

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Yes, exactly. This is why we are trying to create 'sets' of just such combinations in order to improve the ease of reporting on designations. So if the combination of BAP species and WC&A is a common combination perhaps this should be a 'set' too?

However, having said this it does appear from the screens already built for 6.14 that you will be able to choose as many of the 'sets' as you want so in this case BAP would be a set and WC&A would be a set so you would be able to filter on both these combined (I guess these would then be reported in two columns - ie two sets chosen).

I hope this makes sense.
Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Great, thanks Lynn, that's clear. Previous experience has taught me to double-check these things well in advance. ;-)

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

I would add NERC Act S41 as a designation and include that as a group.

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

6 (edited by ser 15-04-2009 14:21:38)

Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Lynn,

This looks a good addition - under BAP will it be possible to add a custom list - i.e. so I could have a Staffordshire BAP list which could be included in the BAP 'set'

If the 'sets' can be combined on the fly while creating a report your group of 'sets' looks fine, however, if only one 'set' can be chosen then it would be useful to have a 'Legally Protected' set - i.e. European + UK Protection

Craig

Craig Slawson
Staffordshire Ecological Record

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

You would be able to choose more than one set on the way through (number of sets chosen equals number of columns the information would appear in...as I understand it at the moment without having tried it) therefore you could combine European and UK Protection in one report filter. I don't think at this stage user lists can be added - but if there is demand for this and funding then this functionality could be added at a later date.
Thanks for your input (and Charles - we're looking at the NERC list now).

Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Will it be possible to create sets if you know how to manually edit the database (similar to the way in which we can edit Report Wizard attributes), or will the sets literally be hard-coded into the Recorder binaries?

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Lynn

Having had a look at the spreadsheet, could I suggest that as well as ‘sets’ of all designated species from a particular piece of legislation, could there be ‘sets’ that reflect the direct impact on planning and conservation.

The majority of our users don’t generally need to know which species can be sold, kept in captivity, hunted at particular times of year, not released into the wild, etc. and in the past we have found that the inclusion of the species from these additional schedules/annexes can confuse the issue.  If the ‘sets’ included all species, we would be in the situation of having to ensure that we deleted all the records of e.g. Grey Squirrel, Sika Deer, Woodpigeon from the resulting output.  ‘Planning sets’ would get around this problem.  The European legislation should be checked for this type of thing too, I think the habitats and species directive annex 5 is about allowable managed exploitation.

You ask for suggestions for other useful sets.  In DERC, as well as protected species and BAP species we effectively have a ‘threat’ set and a ‘rarity’ set.  Threat covers the IUCN categories and also Red and Amber Birds.  [ N.B.  As Red and Amber Birds appear 3 times in the spreadsheet presumably these relate to different lists from different dates and so only the current list should be included.]  We would not include Notable/Notable A/Notable B in ‘threat’ but in rarity as it these are based on the number of 10km squares, (this probably also applies to the early Red List Categories).  Like Craig I would also like to be able to add local lists.

Also would it be possible to do any individual species tweaking within the lists, even manually as Charles suggests.  For example, we have plenty of Scot’s Pine records in Dorset but it is not regarded as Nationally Scarce here as it is not the native subsp. scotica of Caledonian Pine Forest.  The Vascular Plant checklist does not distinguish this subspecies and hence the status applies to all the records, and they would appear in any output from a set that included Nationally Scarce.

Alison Stewart
Dorset Environmental Records Centre

Alison Stewart
Dorset Environmental Records Centre

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Hi Alison,

Thank you for your very helpful comments.
It would be extremely useful to us if you could spare some time to go through the spreadsheet (link at the top of this thread) and indicate which designations you feel we should be using with particular thought to one or several 'planning sets'. Uploading to the forum would be helpful as others could then comment. In theory it is possible to tweak the species in the sets from behind the scenes (tutorial on its way at some point) and it is also possible to add designations (not sets) and relate these to species - hence taking into account local rarities. Presumably then, Craig, you could then add staffordshire local BAP species to the BAP List (sorry if I misled you) - I think this may already be possible in 6.13?

Many thanks,
Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Could we also have the Welsh equivalents - RSPB Red & Amber lists, Welsh Vascular Plants, NERC Section 42. I can provide the species lists if you need them.

In Wales, we use three tiers of categories, one for Protected and Priority species, one for 'other species of conservation concern, and one for locally important species. Technically there is then a fourth for 'everything else'. Along with CCW have recently been through a lengthy process to agree which groups of designations should be appear in each tiers of species, and this has been useful but has also highlighted several major differences of opinion, and I would hope that this new functionality could accommodate both camps in some manor.

The main issue is that of the 'Research Only' UKBAP (and NERC Section 42) species. From CCW's point of view these should be reported because they are important. My personal view is that there are many well recorded species that dilute the contents of reports. The way we have worked around this at SEWBReC is to have two versions of the list, one which includes the 'Research Only' species, and one which excludes them. Our general data enquiries exclude them by default, but the full version can be used on request.

The other issue that came to light was that CCW species officers wanted four species that only appear on Annex 3 of the Berne convention  to be included in the top tier. So we would require a reporting system that could select multiple designations plus selected species - presumably this could be done with a Rucksack but created from both designations and species.

I can send you details of what had been agreed before Easter, but I gather that there has been further disagreement whilst I was out of the office.

Regards,
Dave

Dave Slade
Senior IT & Records Officer,
15 Talbot Road, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, CF72 8AD
www.sewbrec.org.uk, www.sewbrecord.org.uk

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Lynn

I have uploaded an amended version of the spreadsheet (http://forums.nbn.org.uk/uploads.php?file=designation%20groups%20with%20DERC%20suggestions.xls) with additional DERC suggestions for 'planning' sets, etc.  for further comment.

The status tables we maintain within DERC are largely based on JNCC's own downloadable table of taxon designations, so this should be a guide to which are the latest versions of the various multiple lists.  Might be worth getting some input into this process from whoever produces the JNCC table.

Alison


Alison Stewart
Dorset Environmental Records Centre

Alison Stewart
Dorset Environmental Records Centre

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Lynn,

comments and suggestions from CCW staff:

Required: Invasive non-native species and Wales BAP (Section 42 list).

Reporting on RDB and Nationally Scarce species is a fundamental aspect of our work so hopefully all relevant statuses are included here, and not just those that have been assessed under IUCN Guidelines.

Cyprian

CyprianPayne
CCW

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Hi All,

Many thanks to you all for taking the time to input into this process - hopefully this will make the initial sets that we ship with the next version of Recorder more useful to more users, in particular thanks Alison for the planning legislation ideas. We have identified that the NERC list for England (NERC Section 41)has an equivalent in Wales (NERC Section 42) and Scotland (Scottish Biodiversity List) and we are working to get these included as soon as we can. Evidently there is no actual list for invasive non-native species as requested by Cyprian but evidently the various bodies that would create this list are aware of the need and hopefully this will be created in due course.

The way the species designations reporting will currently work within Recorder is that only those designations that appear on the JNCC Collation List will be pulled out of the database using the designation sets filter - ie the query that will pull the data out will be based on the JNCC collation of taxon designations List. Therefore only those designations which appear on this list will be selectable from within the relevant designation sets ie species listed under WC&A Sch 2, 3,4,6 and 9 will not appear in filtered report (unless they appear under a designation that does appear in the collation) as these designations do not appear on the JNCC Collation of taxon designations. We also intend to write a tutorial which will explain how to build/adjust the designation sets from behind the scenes as Charles requested which should enable further customisation.

Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Really great feedback - thanks everyone. Alison suggested everything that was suggested at a team meeting we had here, so it looks like everything is covered. The planning legislation group in particular should be really handy.

One query: there are several designations that look like Birds of Conservation Concern designations:

NBNSYS0100000003    BoCC - Amber
NBNSYS0100000004    BoCC - Red
NHMSYS0019998301    BoCC - Red list species
NHMSYS0019998302    BoCC - Amber list species
NHMSYS0020443051    Bird:Amber
NHMSYS0020443052    Bird:Red

It's important that only the latest are used; do we know if the two Alison has suggested (the last two) are indeed the correct ones?

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Yes, the last two are the latest and these will be the ones included in the designation sets.
I have updated the spreadsheet of proposed designation sets (http://forums.nbn.org.uk/uploads.php?file=species%20designation%20sets%20V2.xls) to include the suggestions made by Alison, to incorporate the new lists identified and also to remove obsolete designations and designations that do not appear on the JNCC collation of taxon designations (and would therefore not be pulled out in the filter anyway - to avoid confusion on what is being filtered). This is likely to be the intial set that is included in 6.14 unless there is major disagreement at this stage. These can be tweaked and added to in subsequent releases of Recorder as we start to use them.

Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Forgot to mention, we have a list of invasive non-native species for Sussex that could be used as a starting point for a UK list. Details here. We have also prepared contextual statements for each species so that users of our data know a little about what the species is and why it is significant. This is particularly important for alien species which happen to be an extremely contentious issue because (a) there is no clear, objective definition of what is an "invasive alien" and (b) the very term "invasive alien" carries with it a strong negative connotation and some people get quite alarmed when something like the fallow deer or the ruddy duck appear in an invasive alien list; the implication being that by appearing on such a list the species become the target of some sort of "call to action" for the general public.

It ended up being such a hot topic here in Sussex we ended up including mostly plants and a few others such as harlequin ladybird, mink and muntjac.

You can see a sample of the list in action in our sample report:

http://sxbrc.org.uk/file_download/38/SxBRC_Demo_Report_Web.pdf

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

charlesr wrote:

Really great feedback - thanks everyone. Alison suggested everything that was suggested at a team meeting we had here, so it looks like everything is covered. The planning legislation group in particular should be really handy.

One query: there are several designations that look like Birds of Conservation Concern designations:

NBNSYS0100000003    BoCC - Amber
NBNSYS0100000004    BoCC - Red
NHMSYS0019998301    BoCC - Red list species
NHMSYS0019998302    BoCC - Amber list species
NHMSYS0020443051    Bird:Amber
NHMSYS0020443052    Bird:Red

It's important that only the latest are used; do we know if the two Alison has suggested (the last two) are indeed the correct ones?

I'd just like to re-iterate one my earlier point that in Wales we have Welsh RSBP Red/Amber lists, and these would take precedence over the ones Charles has listed here.

Dave Slade
Senior IT & Records Officer,
15 Talbot Road, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, CF72 8AD
www.sewbrec.org.uk, www.sewbrecord.org.uk

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Hi Dave,

The Welsh RSPB Red/Amber Lists do not appear to be included on the JNCC collation of taxon designations at this stage and therefore would not be pulled out in the designation filter if they were added to a designation set. If these are important lists for Wales we would need to open a discussion about whether to add these lists/designations to the JNCC collation. It is unlikely however that these would be able to be added for the next release simply due to the amount of work involved, the short timescale before the next species dictionary is due and the amount of work that has already been commissioned for this next release. Perhaps these could be added to the wishlist for future additions?

Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

In which case, please add it to the wish list!

Thanks,
Dave

Dave Slade
Senior IT & Records Officer,
15 Talbot Road, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, CF72 8AD
www.sewbrec.org.uk, www.sewbrecord.org.uk

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Dear Lynn
From your original posting it appears that we will be able  produce a report for a particular set of species in a particular status list. However does that allow us to produce for example a species report which lists for each record the particular status list a species is on eg UKBAP, WCA5, Red Data? This would be preferable in one column in the report and not a column for each status. We would also need to be able to select which status lists would be used for such a report ie WCA 1,5 and 8. This would ensure we are not reporting on statuses which are not relevant to normal constraints checking or are out of date.
At the moment the welsh LRCs have to manage the status lists outside of Recorder6 to produce such reports. These are derived from the original JNCC list. It would be much more helpful to all if these up to date lists were incorporated into R6 and included the Welsh, Scottish and English status lists as previously discussed, and it was a priority of the project for JNCC to keep these updated regularly.
Thanks

janet

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Lynn,

Just noticed the NERC and CRoW lists aren't included in the spreadsheet - could these be added if I'm not too late!

Craig
Staffordshire Ecological Record

Craig Slawson
Staffordshire Ecological Record

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

Hi Craig,

NERC will be included. I guess after 6.14 is released there will be a few tweaks and further suggestions for the designation sets and further ones to be added so I suggest we wait and see whether Charles Hussey will be adding the CRoW list to the species dictionary (see other post http://forums.nbn.org.uk/viewtopic.php?id=1056)

Lynn

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

I have come late to this topic, but the Scottish Government has a Scottish Biodiversity List which includes all UKBAP and European Protected species, but also many others that are of interest up here.  Could that be included?

Murdo

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Re: Species designation sets for reporting for 6.14-your chance to comment

I understand that the Scottish Biodiversity List is already included in the species dictionary so will be included in the Country/UK Biodiversity Lists along with BAP:2007, NERC 41 and NERC42 (English and Welsh country lists).

Cheers,
Lynn