It has been a while since I last provided an update on our progress with the Species Dictionary, so here’s a summary of what we’ve been concentrating on during 2006. Details of progress for each taxonomic group are available at: http://nbn.nhm.ac.uk/nhm/summary_table.pdf

A lot of work has concentrated on populating the nameserver (important for reporting in R6) and it now contains >165,000 names and is 70 % complete. We’re hoping to include all current Dictionary names within the nameserver this Autumn.

On the checklist front, we’re progressing well with invertebrates and have added lists for Strepsiptera, non-marine Mollusca, Gastrotricha and Coleoptera. The latter follows the checklists that are being developed and provided via the Coleopterist website and so far contains data for just over half of the c. 100 UK families. The remaining families will be incorporated as soon as we have permission (they are currently being validated by experts). We’ve also added a fully revised version of the BMS checklist of UK fungi, updated the BOU birds list and added a new list for their category D and E species. Additionally, a number of existing resources have been updated, including the BSBI vascular plant list, which now has a taxonomic (rather than alphabetical) sort order. All core lists will be updated on a regular basis and we’re awaiting data for various groups including gall-forming species, Hemiptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera. These improvements will be available in future Recorder updates, and it is intended to supply taxonomic updates on a more frequent basis.

Designatory lists remain an area where further work is required. In this context, we’ve added the 2002-07 Birds of Conservation Concern dataset and a series of lists to support the Farm Environment Plan (with help from the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre). JNCC are currently looking in detail at the supply and updating of other designatory datasets.

We’re also continuing our program of improving the quality of existing content, and redevelopment of our website has been agreed in concept (we are currently on a waiting list for developer time). The new design will provide clearer presentation of data, greatly enhanced content and much improved linkage to other web resources.

Future work will include improving the display and coverage of recording aggregates and hybrid names for plants.

Please let me know if you’ve any comments or requests, particularly for checklists (taxonomic or designatory/legislative) that you’d like to see added.

John