I posted a while back about my reservations about submitting biodiversity data. I hoped it was clear from that this was more a personal reservation about a certain habit of mind I myself was forming. In recent days I have returned to submitting duty.
Some of the reason for this is realising how many areas of the country are not being counted. Here is the breakdown from the 5000 record challenge;
Most records received from Wexford, followed by Cork, Waterford, Galway & Wicklow #5000Records #BiodiversityDay pic.twitter.com/6EIlB9MGNo
— Biodiversity Ireland (@BioDataCentre) May 23, 2016
Some counties were entirely unrepresented:
We failed to get even a single record from Monaghan, Cavan and Armagh! #5000Records #BiodiversityDay
— Biodiversity Ireland (@BioDataCentre) May 23, 2016
Does Wexford have 10 times as much biodiversity as Donegal? Or infinitely more (well, you know what I mean) than Monaghan, Cavan and Armagh? Furthermore, looking at the maps of Recording Effort and Recording Locations it is clear that there is a high regional concentration even within counties. Not much recording from the Western part of Donegal.
For me, this is a better to light a candle than curse the darkness moment. Some of the issues I discussed in my prior blog post remain, but in recent days I have found myself not automatically recording but thinking about what I am looking at. In the last few days I have been in Donegal. The differences between South Tipperary and North West Donegal are pretty obvious in many ways, and biodiversity recording reflects this, although commonalities are also found. And I have found having a small guide book has been very helpful for identifying plants and flowers particularly.
Séamus Sweeney 