NBN Gateway

[Flywaver]

I'm beginning to question the reliability of this and perhaps there is another more upto date site.
For example the Brown Hare is supposedly numerous all over Norfolk yet records show more in Cambridgeshire.
Another shows an area for Adders about 5-10miles north east of Littleport which is just flat arable farmland.
I understand it dates back along time.
I do know about AddanAdder but that isn't clear.
I'm not asking for exact pin points.
I just think something in the style of google maps with Satelite view with species list would be great!?

[Meta menardi]

If it is not reported, it isn't plotted. I have used data sets the show no reports from most of East Yorkshire. In some cases, records show more about where committed reporting naturalists live than they show about wild life occurrences. What is the answer? Record and report, even the common stuff.

[RoyW]

I would suspect that the NBN Gateway is by far the best single resource for anyone who wants to look at the distribution of wildlife in the UK.

As Meta menardi has said, the maps can only show records that have been submitted, but the maps displayed are also affected by the resolution that has been allowed by the groups that have submitted data (in some cases the data is only displayed as 10km squares).
If you use the interactive maps you can find out which dataset different records have come from, and in some cases you might be able to download raw data if you really want to find out the details of the plotted records (although access to sensitive data is always restricted). There are also sometimes records displayed that are certainly incorrect - so you have to decide which datasets you trust!

The Littleport Adder record that you mention is from a dataset for which the majority of records are between 1958 & 1996, but which also includes earlier records - so it may not have been arable farmland at the time!
As for the Brown Hare records... Look how good Bedfordshire and a few other counties seem to be for this species (an illusion created because recent datasets from detailed county surveys are available at fairly high resolution).

[Adam Cheeseman]

I would agree that the maps are not that reliable as a true depiction of coverage, but that is down to records submitted as has been said.

It is probably the best nationwide representation we have and the more records they receive the truer the maps will be obviously. They are still useful for many species, particularly those that have limited distributions.

I tested it out one day when I randomly chose Kingfisher, and the entire UK population distribution was in Devon.

Cheers,

Adam

[thunder]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

I tested it out one day when I randomly chose Kingfisher, and the entire UK population distribution was in Devon.

Cheers,

Adam

That would be because the national datasets had not at that time been put on the Gateway! Always check which datasets are being used before you decide the map is wrong!

henrya

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by thunder

That would be because the national datasets had not at that time been put on the Gateway! henrya

That was my assumption at the time.

Cheers,

Adam

[Matt Smith]

The NBN is improving all the time as records are added, but it does rely for the most part on voluntary organisations and recording schemes sending in their datasets to be uploaded. If it's not sent, you won't see it.

Best way to check on records is to use the interactive map, select the records you want to look at and query them. Depending on the dataset, you may be able to download the full data for the record. If not, you should still be able to find out who sent the record in and who to contact.

Another thing to look at is the metadata or dataset discription for the various records. This gives more information about how the records were collected, how reliable they are and the dates covered. If there are no modern records for "x", it may be that the particualr dataset you are looking at does not cover that timer period.