How
To 'Do' Biological Recording:
The 'doing' of
biological recording has many forms as each group of organisms requires differing
techniques to find, observe, record, collect, and preserve. However, the 'what'
to record and the handling and analysis of the data are very similar. Let
us first decide what we need for a record to be useful/worthwhile. The data which
needs to be recorded as a part of a biological record can vary greatly depending
upon what is being found and even on how it is found. For example, the fields
below are the ones which form the basis of almost any record and should always
be included with any submission to a record centre: - The Date -
day/month/year
- The Place - usually a site name and an Ordnance
Survey Map Grid Reference - (Don't worry about this one - if you don't know how
to do it we can help you!).
- The Name and Contact Details of the Recorder
- (i.e. the person who saw the organism).
- The Name and Contact Details
of the Determiner - (i.e. the person who identified the organism - if this
is different than the Recorder - see above).
- The Name of the Organism
(the Species) - seen and identified (e.g. Blackbird, or Turdus merula)
- as can be seen either English Name or Latin though if you can give both together
it helps to prevent any possible misinterpretation).
Other information
is always useful; for example: - Numbers of the organism seen.
- Sex
of the organism seen.
- Stage of the organism (adult, larva, egg, flowering,
fruiting, etc.).
For certain types of recording others items of information
may be absolutely imperative. For example: - If one was trapping migratory
birds with Mist Nets then one may wish to note and record any birds with leg rings
and their ring numbers.
- One may wish to record the type of trapping method
used to catch insects (e.g. pitfall traps, water traps, light traps, sweep-netting,
etc.).
Many techniques are used for biological recording to actually
find the relevant organisms but essentially it boils down to seeing a plant or
animal, identifying the organism, writing down the above items of data for that
observation, and then sending the information in to rECOrd where we can
make practical, and pro-active use of the data to help protect and improve conditions
for our wildlife and both their and our own habitat for the future. Please help
by sending your records in - see our recording form.
Should you wish to learn more about the differing techniques involved in
biological recording, most of which are beyond our remit here, then please do
contact rECOrd with your queries and they will attempt to put you in touch
with someone who can help - e-mail the Local Record Centre staff at: rECOrd Biological
recording, or biodiversity recording, covers many disciplines with a vast numbers
of techniques and methodologies, many being dependent upon the species being observed/recorded
or looked for. However, it can be summarised in the following manner:- "Biological
recording is the discipline of looking for and finding living organisms and noting
certain specific items of data relating to that observation." Even
the above is not always correct as often not finding an organism can be almost
as informative as finding it. However, most uses of the data produced by recording
and recorders is to do with finding organisms in specific sites. Enjoy your recording
- send your records to the relevant County Recorder - and send your records to
the Local Record Centre (rECOrd). Thank you
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