The Wiltshire Critical Species was a pilot project attempting to answer what should be the priority or Critical Species for Wiltshire. Which species are most important in Wiltshire and for which species might Wiltshire be of importance?
The project was generously supported by Natural England through the Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme.
What is the project about?
The WCSP provides us a valuable opportunity to critically examine the Section 41 and Red List species data for the county, improve our understanding of it and make this information more useful for the future.
The work has already helped improve our analytical capabilities through the advanced analytical use of ArcGIS Pro, Python scripting, R programming and complex data visualisation and engagement using R-Shiny.
An initial Critical Species List was derived from comparing WSBRC Records from 2010 to IUCN Red List and Section 41 species.
A workshop bringing together local wildlife groups, volunteer recorders as well as professional ecologists and others working in the environment sector in Wiltshire reviewed and refined the data, bringing to bear a wider expertise, local knowledge and experience.
How do you agree priorities?
Good data and information is key to understanding more about species distribution and abundance, planning conservation and recording effort. It is vital to improve this data and understand its strengths and weaknesses through informed discussion and consensus.
As well as considering the national and regional perspective, it is important to consider species in a local context. Which species is Wiltshire particularly important for and what are the conservation opportunities?
Analysing the data enables us to identify gaps in knowledge and target species for future recording effort.
The project outcomes
The key outcome of all our combined efforts is an expertly and collaboratively reviewed Wiltshire's Critical Species List. This is a key step toward greater understanding of which species might need special conservation effort with the data feeding into upcoming nature recovery initiatives and many other areas of work. It is the first stage of WSBRC to undertake more analytical work of the data we hold and gain more from it.
Outputs will directly contributes to upcoming Nature Recovery plans (LNRS, NRN).
"The LNRS will direct conservation activity in the county and part of it includes agreeing the priorities, in terms of habitats and species, for recovering or enhancing biodiversity".
Wiltshire's Critical Species Distribution Map - Web App (Works best on desktop)
These maps give an indication of the recent distribution of species (2010-2022) compared to the previous 13-years (1997-2009). The records from the second time interval (1997-2009) can be used to identify potential losses in the distribution of each species. However, they cannot be used to identify gains because the recording intensity and, subsequently, the number of records submitted has increased significantly since 2005. It is also important to note that the vast majority of records are not the result of systematic monitoring, which means that we cannot assume species absence if there are no records of species presence in a location.
WSBRC would like to thank all those who have generously contributed to this project.
Wiltshire’s Critical Species Downloads
Photo credits: © Stephen Davis