top of page
Yellowing curtain crust 3.jpg
Assessing_Agrobiodiversity.jpg

Measuring biodiversity

 

An ideal biodiversity data set allows one to estimate richness (number of types of life) and even-ness (some measure of how much of each type is present). This is best done at some kind of group level (birds, mammals, wild plants, crops, etc.), with any higher-level integration being more or less subjective so as to take account of complexity, trade-offs and objectives. The Assessing Agrobiodiversity compendium will be of interest to those who want to know more.

Identification, quantification and reporting

 

The first step is to identify forms of life. The second is to quantify them, and third is to report them. Below you will find some resources to help you identify fauna, flora and fungi, and links to surveys, which provide guidelines for quantifying and reporting one's findings. Members of the Croft Biodiversity Group can draw on these to assess biodiversity on Leith Community Croft.

IMG_20260527_bloody_crane_s_bill.jpg
IMG_20260530_white_foxglove.jpg

1. General Resources

go to main Croft Biodiversity Project webpage

General Resources
DSCF6738_adj_edited.jpg

2. Birds

go to main Croft Biodiversity Project webpage

Birds
Mammals
DSC04090_crop_adj.jpg

3. Mammals

go to main Croft Biodiversity Project webpage

butterfly.jpg

4. Insects

go to main Croft Biodiversity Project webpage

Insects
UKPOMS.jpg
Croft Bumblebee

Pollinators​​

​

You'll find plenty of information here, including links to info on identifying butterflies, moths, bees, wasps and hoverflies and tips on how to create pollinator-friendly places.

​

Spend ten minutes watching flowers and insects in good weather! This simple survey collects data on the total number of insects that visit a particular flower, ideally chosen from our list of 14 target flowers. FIT Counts can be done anywhere, including gardens and parks, in warm, dry weather during daylight hours from 1 April to 30 September.​

​

By taking part in Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count - a UK wide survey, you can help assess the health of our environment simply by counting butterflies. Here you'll find all you need to take part in this, including an ID chart and app.

​

This European Butterfly Monitoring (eBMS) App enables you to contribute to butterfly conservation by providing important information on where different species occur and the numbers found in different places across Europe. Contribute your counts of butterfly species alongside accurate location information, added via a dynamic map or via GPS acquired route information. You can add photos to support your observations. This free resource makes it easy to keep track of what you see, while making your data openly available for scientific research, education and conservation.

​

The app uses your location and the time of year to help with identification, presenting the butterflies that you are most likely to see at the top of the list. It has galleries of colour photographs showing all UK butterflies, at all stages of their life cycles, and tips to help with the identification of difficult species. You can use the app to record a single butterfly or create a list of different species seen during a visit to a site.

​

​​

​

7-Spot Ladybird

Ladybirds​​​​​

​

  • Woodland Trust: Common UK ladybird identification and facts

There are 26 types of ladybird in the UK, many of which can be spotted in gardens and woodland. Learn to tell who's who with our quick and easy guide to the some of the most commonly encountered species.

​

34 of the 47 UK resident ladybird species have been recorded on NatureSpot so far. The 12 most commonly recorded are shown below. Most ladybirds are colourful and can be identified from their colours and patterns. A few also have variant colour forms which could confuse so we have illustrated some of these below.

​

Ladybirds belong to the scientific family Coccinellidae. In Britain, some 46 species belong to this family, although only 26 of these are recognisable as ladybirds.
Many species are named after a number of spots. Counting the spots is not always a good way to identify them though, as the number of spots can vary a lot. Not all ladybirds even have spots; some have stripes, patches or streaks.
If spot number alone isn’t a good indication, there are other useful characteristics to observe...

​

Identifying ladybirds is usually based on colouration and the number and pattern of spots, although these can sometimes vary between individuals of the same species. In this article, we’ll show several species you may encounter when looking for ladybirds.

​

The UK Ladybird Survey aims to encourage the recording of all species of ladybird found within the UK. Ladybirds belong to the scientific family Coccinellidae.

In Britain, some 46 species belong to this family, although only 26 of these are recognisable as ladybirds.

On this website you will find lots of information to help you find and identify species, and online forms so that you can record your observations.​​

earthworms.jpg
DSCF4110.JPG
snail-7976692_1280.jpg
IMG_20260523_knapweed.jpg

8. Wild plants

go to main Croft Biodiversity Project webpage

Plantlife_App_Review.jpg

Apps to identify plants​

​

Plantlife reviewed plant-identification apps and recommended three of them, linked below:

​​

Our favourite app from the ones tested, this is free to download with no intrusive adverts or other costs involved.

The aim of the Flora Incognita research project is mapping plants, therefore they record and use the location of where the plants are found.

That means using this app is not only beneficial to your learning, but also makes an important contribution to biodiversity monitoring and research.

​

Claiming to be ‘the botanist in your pocket’, this app uses advanced artificial intelligence and was accurate for a wide range of species, from Sea Thrift to trickier species such as Mouse-ear Hawkweed.

Advertised as £24.99 a year, you can use the app indefinitely to identify plants without paying: when you open the app you come to a pre-home screen where you click cancel.

​

iNaturalist was created with the aims of recording your observations and sharing them with the ability to crowdsource identifications. The app is free and has a range of handy features that make uploading a breeze, including an automatic location based on the photos’ GPS tag, and the ability to record other wildlife such as insects and birds.

We found the app very accurate to a plant’s genus, a group of similar species, and sometimes even down to the specific species when multiple photos are added. This makes it the perfect tool for you to take your plant ID knowledge further with a field guide.

Seek is a simpler version of iNaturalist with an easier interface for the family. We found Seek had less accuracy in the field, so if you’re looking for something more thorough, we recommend downloading iNaturalist.

Lichens
lichens-on-branch.png
bottom of page