Figure 5 - uploaded by Paul Tinsley-Marshall
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7 Boxplot showing tree areas in a sub-sample of aerial imagery from West Blean and Thornden Woods, in each of five width bands, (1 = 0-0.5 m2, 2 = 0.5-1 m2, 3 = 1-5 m2, 4 = 5-10 m2, 5 = >10 m2). The vertical lines show the full range of tree areas in each class and extend to the smallest and largest areas. Boxes show the interquartile range with the median shown as a bold line. Whiskers extend to the smallest and largest observations or 1.5 times the interquartile range, whichever is smaller with outliers shown by filled circles. Points show raw data, arranged in a "beeswarm" plot, which plots points of the same value adjacent to each other, allowing both distribution and frequency to be visualised.
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Landscape-scale conservation is the combined contribution of multiple actions, on multiple sites, and by multiple stakeholders, to the resilience of ecological networks. This results in a complex matrix of interventions and policies in space and time. Monitoring the outcomes of landscape-scale conservation therefore presents significant challenges...
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Citations
... We implemented an invertebrate sampling technique based on the 'windscreen phenomenon'. Data were collected by citizen scientists to assess invertebrate abundance over a 17 year timeframe (Tinsley-Marshall et al., 2021a, 2021b. The aim was to quantify insect abundance in the UK using a standardised approach and to make comparisons with pre-existing baseline data from 2004, which was collected as part of a national survey using the same sampling method led by the RSPB ('Big Bug Count'). ...
In recent years, scientists and the media have drawn attention to global declines in insect abundance, the consequences of which are potentially catastrophic. Invertebrates are critical to ecosystem functions and services, and without them, life on earth would collapse. However, there has been insufficient data to make robust conclusions about trends in insect abundance in the UK, because standardised insect sampling approaches are not widely applied to all insect groups or at a national scale. Here, we demonstrate the use of an innovative and scalable invertebrate sampling technique conducted by citizen scientists, to examine the difference in invertebrate abundance in the UK over a 17-year timeframe. The 'windscreen phenomenon' is a term given to the anecdotal observation that people tend to find fewer insects squashed on the windscreens of their cars now, compared to in the past. This observation has been ascribed to major declines in insect abundance. In this study, citizen scientists were asked to record the numbers of squashed insects and other invertebrates on their vehicle number plates following a journey, having first removed any residual insects sampled on previous journeys. We compared the number of insects sampled by vehicles in 2019 (n = 599 journeys in Kent) and 2021 (n = 3,348 journeys nationwide) with the results of a nationwide survey using this methodology led by the RSPB ('Big Bug Count') in 2004 (n = 14,466 journeys). The results show that the number of insects sampled on vehicle number plates in the UK decreased by 58.5% between 2004 and 2021, and that these differences were statistically significant. A comparison of the 2004 national data with the 2019 data from Kent showed a 53.7% decrease. The greatest decreases in splat rate between 2004 and 2021 occurred in England (65%) whilst journeys in Scotland recorded a comparably smaller decrease (27.9%), with intermediate decreases in Wales (55%). These results are consistent with the declining trends in insect populations widely reported by others, and informs a growing requirement for conservation research, policy and practice targeted at invertebrates in the UK. However, our results are based on data with low temporal resolution and consequently we interpret this change between two points in time with caution. Furthermore, inter-annual variation in a range of unmeasured factors, such as wind speed, predation or land-use change, could significantly influence the observed pattern. To draw robust conclusions about long-term trends in insect populations in the UK, scientists require data from multiple years, over long time periods, and over large spatial scales-the Bugs Matter citizen science survey has demonstrated that it has the potential to generate such data.
An account of the changing fortunes of Kent’s species and habitats, the pressures nature has faced and the conservation efforts undertaken over the last 10 years.
