Aquatic Plant Project 2023
Nick Stewart recently presented two new webinars on aquatic plants - summarising the major divisions of Stringy-leaved and Feathery-leaved aquatics. These are now available to view on YouTube along with all the past videos from the Aquatic Plant Project.
We will be holding five field days in July and August, in counties Galway, Offaly, Cavan, Westmeath and Laois. For more details and to book please visit the Aquatic Plant Project webpage.
Polly Spencer-Vellacott, APP Event Co-ordinator
British & Irish Botany 5.2 published
The latest issue of our scientific journal is now out and features eight papers, all well worth a read and some of particular interest to botanical recorders: Sarah Watts reports on new altitudinal records for high mountain trees; Micheline Sheehy Skeffington & Nick Scott consider whether five rare heathers were introduced to the west of Ireland through human activity; and Joshua Evans & Andrew Carr look at current and future distributions of pinewood specialist plants in the Cairngorms.
Read a summary of the eight papers here; go straight to the latest issue; or browse the British & Irish Botany archive for more papers on the British and Irish flora.
Louise Marsh, BSBI Communications Officer
Upcoming FISC dates
Additional FISC dates have been added to the BSBI FISC page and there are spaces available on several previously-advertised FISCs. Please share with your networks or other recorders who may be interested.
Chantal Helm, BSBI Training Co-ordinator
English Botanical News is out
The 2023 issue of English Botanical News is now available for you to view or download from the EBN webpage here, where you will also find back issues of the newsletter. This issue has reports of the Recorders’ Meeting held last October, Zoom meetings held with recorders in January, the England Annual Meeting and all the English County Recorders’ reports for 2022. It also has introductions to James Harding-Morris (Countries Support Manager) and Chantal Helm (Training Coordinator).
Jonathan Shanklin, Chair, Committee for England
Recorders’ Meeting at Preston Montford
Another Recorders’ Meeting is being held at Preston Montford this year from 6-8 October, and any recorder is welcome to join the event. You don’t have to be a County Recorder to take part, so do consider coming along – you can get a feel for the event from the webpage and the report in the latest issue of English Botanical News (see above). You can book here.
Jonathan Shanklin, Chair, Committee for England
Access to the membership list for BSBI volunteers
Updates to member lists used to be sent out regularly, but now due to GDPR they are only sent out when requested. So if, as a BSBI volunteer such as a County Recorder, you need access to members’ contact details in your area for a specific purpose covered in our Data Handling Policy, we can arrange this. Please get in touch with Gwynn Ellis or myself. We will send you a short form to sign to confirm you will follow our Privacy and Data Handling Policy. Then we can provide you with the relevant members' contact details every quarter, or as a one-off, if you prefer.
The Volunteer Confidentiality and Data Protection Agreement form, and all the other information about this process, can be found in the password-protected members’ area of the BSBI website.
Personal data protection and security is an important part of our culture at BSBI. We need to ensure that our members, supporters and the community of botanists can trust us to use their data fairly and responsibly. We review our policies each year to ensure they remain up to date and the latest versions are available via the links above. If you have any questions about privacy or handling personal data please do contact me.
Julia Hanmer, BSBI Chief Executive
Supporting the next generation of botanists / recorders: I
A field day to introduce newcomers to botanical recording is taking place at Ealing (London) on 5th August. Led by BSBI County Recorder Mark Spencer, this free event is an ideal way for anyone based in the London area to take their first steps in botanical recording. More details and booking here.
Louise Marsh, BSBI Communications Officer
Supporting the next generation of botanists / recorders: 2
The finals of the 2023 Botanical University Challenge takes place at the University of Nottingham on 5th July. BSBI is supporting this year’s event, with prizes for finalists and a presence on the day. This blog post tells you more about why we think it’s important to support these plant science / botany students and how you can follow the event on the day, either in person, via Zoom or on social media.
Louise Marsh, BSBI Communications Officer
Anisantha diandra / rigida
If recording Anisantha diandra/rigida please collect a voucher. Each year please. Maybe a bit late in some areas now but if any please collect, doesn’t need the whole plant (preferably the inflorescence down to at least one good green/fresh leaf). If intending to collect over a season, pressed plants will be ok (with some green leaves) and sent in one go. The differences between the two are still problematic, so any chance to see material may help.
Michael Wilcox – see BSBI Yearbook for postal address.
National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS)
I’ll be heading out soon to survey my NPMS plot so it was great to find out how NPMS data have fed into to the latest assessment of the exposure of UK habitats to C20th and C21st century climate change. Feeling inspired by how NPMS data are increasingly used for research into major issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change? If so, why not register for the NPMS and take on a square? You can sign up here.
James Harding-Morris, BSBI Countries Support Manager
Field Meeting Reports
The meetings season is now in full swing and reports are coming in. Don’t forget that if you have run a BSBI meeting, a report for the Yearbook is desirable so that members who couldn’t attend can get a picture of the meeting. There is guidance on writing a report in the “Leading BSBI Field Meetings” document at the bottom of the meetings web page here. The 2023 revision also covers organising indoor events.
Jonathan Shanklin, Hon Field Meetings Secretary