The Biological Journal of the Linnean Society volume 115 part 3 (July 2015) is devoted to biological recording, and it might therefore be of special interest to many BBS members. The issue (guest-edited by H.E. Roy, C.D. Preston & D.B. Roy) marks the 50th anniversary of the Biological Records Centre and many of the papers are based on talks given at the celebratory conference held at the University of Bath in June 2014. In addition to an editorial introduction, there are 22 papers of which three deal with bryophytes:
In addition, there are papers on the Biological Records Centre as a pioneer of citizen science and on bias in biological records, and reviews of the uses of biological records in general and in IUCN Red List assessments, in understanding biological invasions and in tracking the spread and impacts of diseases in particular. Vascular plants are covered by further papers on hybridisation, phenology and ecological monitoring schemes. Studies of other groups cover the history of the water beetle recording scheme (‘the oldest insect recording scheme’), the relationship of the ranges of phytophagous insects to those of their hosts, recent trends in the insects of early successional habitats, the impact of climate change on the northern range margins of a range of invertebrate groups and the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving species with changing ranges. The remaining papers examine the future influence of emerging technologies and of molecular techniques on biological recording and discuss the pitfalls of ecological forecasting. A final paper sets out a 10-point plan for biological recording in the next decade.
The publisher has arranged to make these papers available free-to-download for at least three months after publication (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/10958312/2015/115/3). If they are no longer available, please contact the author of any paper of particular interest to you.
Published: 31 July 2015
