Plant Atlas 2020: Mapping Changes in the Distribution of the British and Irish Flora

Plant Atlas 2020 is the most in-depth survey of the British and Irish flora ever undertaken. It builds on two previous plant distribution atlases published by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland in the twentieth century. Plant Atlas 2020 will serve as an essential resource for the study and conservation of our wild plants and their vitally important habitats for decades to come.

Thousands of botanists spent 20 years recording wild and naturalised plants across Britain and Ireland. They collected more than 30 million records which fed into the Plant Atlas 2020 website, book and summary reports.

Plant Atlas 2020 website

  • The Plant Atlas 2020 website features information about 3,445 native and introduced plant species
  • Interactive maps display frequency and distribution at a variety of scales.
  • The website provides photo galleries to help you identify that plant, information on flowering times and summarises trends - whether the plant is on the increase or in decline.

Plant Atlas 2020 summary reports

  • Britain's Changing Flora summarises the key findings from the Plant Atlas 2020 project, assessing changes since the 1950s and analysing the drivers of change, such as habitat loss, pollution and climate change.
  • This press release summarises the findings in Britain
  • Visit our Plant Atlas 2020 country pages for country-level press releases and to find out what the new Atlas reveals about how our flora is changing in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
  • View Britain's Changing Flora in browser, download the report as a pdf or view it below on a Screen Reader.

Plant Atlas 2020 book

  • Plant Atlas 2020 is published in March 2023 as a 2-volume printed Atlas, available in bookshops or direct from the publishers, Princeton University Press.
  • The book features introductory chapters that provide a detailed assessment of the changes to the region’s flora over the past hundred years.
  • Distribution maps and accompanying text and graphics display the phenology, altitudinal range, and time-series trends for some 2,700 native, alien, and hybrid species.
  • BSBI members can benefit from an exclusive 50% discount offer which runs until the end of March 2023. Members should visit the password-protected members' area of this website to find out how to claim their discount. Email [email protected] if you've forgotten your password.
  • Not yet a member? Join BSBI today to benefit from this great offer!

Plant Atlases 1, 2 and 3

BSBI's ground-breaking first atlas of the British and Irish flora, published in 1962, pioneered the use of ‘dot-maps’ aligned to the OS grid. Read about the influence that it had in this paper published in New Journal of Botany.

A second atlas was published in 2002, based on fieldwork carried out from 1987-1999.

Our third atlas, based on fieldwork carried out from 2000 to 2019 (the Plant Atlas 2020 project) goes live on 8th March 2023.

Funding

BSBI is grateful to the trusts, foundations and organisations that have supported work undertaken through the Plant Atlas 2020 project and its publication, as well as all the members, supporters and individuals who have donated time, expertise and financial support to the endeavour.

If you would like to provide financial support for this nationally important work, please visit our Appeal page and contact BSBI Head of Science Dr Kevin Walker or Fundraising Manager, Sarah Woods.

With particular thanks to:

  • Biological Records Centre/ UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology: the production of Plant Atlas 2020 was partly supported through Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability.
  • The Wildlife Trusts
  • National Museums Northern Ireland
  • Natural England
  • National Parks and Wildlife Service
  • The Naturesave Trust
  • The Thriplow Charitable Trust
  • The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust
  • The Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust
  • and other anonymous supporters