News from Biodiversity Ireland
October 2024

This monthly newsletter provides an update on some of the work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and highlights upcoming events. 

All-Ireland Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme: 2012-2023 report

The All-Ireland Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme, established by the National Biodiversity Data Centre in 2012, is one of the first of its kind globally. It tracks bumblebees and uses the status of the 8 commonest species to generate a multi-species population index as a measure of the health of Ireland’s bumblebee populations. The scheme involves volunteers walking a fixed route (transect) each month from March to October and counting all the bumblebees seen. It represents a huge voluntary effort by our citizen scientists.

In 2023, 86 volunteers walked more than 1,000km and counted 20,379 individual bumblebees.

Main findings:

1. The weather was poor in 2023, and this is reflected in the data. Bumblebee numbers were below average for most of the year, other than a peak in July.
2. While things do seem to be stabilising a little, there is still an overall year-on-year decline in bumblebees of 3.3% since 2012.
3. Without doubt, the most worrying findings come from the individual species trends. The current analyses flag four of our common species as being in decline.
4. Having first arrived in Ireland in 2017, the Tree Bumblebee is slowly expanding. It will be a fascinating one to watch in future years as it fully establishes here.

While we all wish this data told a different story, it’s important to bear in mind the positives. Thanks to the generosity of those taking part, we know what is happening with bumblebees in our landscape and can respond to that through the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. While we know that the Large Carder Bumblebee remains in difficulties, increasing numbers of communities have been taking action. We can clearly see that where this happens at local levels, the bee responds positively within a short period of time. If we can continue support for the Pollinator Plan, there is no reason why we cannot change the trajectory for our wild pollinators in coming years. These findings do indicate the urgency of those efforts and that they need to be further increased.

Vascular Plants Dataset

There has been an update to the Vascular Plants dataset, which is now updated with from the majority of April – June 2024. Due to the large volume of records, data for quarter three of 2024 is still currently under validation, but will also be uploaded to Biodiversity Maps upon completion. Despite some mixed weather conditions there has still been some great recording activity across those three months, with 12,888 plant records from 1037 different taxa! We received records from 676 individual recorders from all 32 counties.

The vascular plant dataset now has 307,057 records across 1,756 taxa. A huge thank you to all of our botanical recorders for continuing submit large amount of quality data through Ireland’s Citizen Science Portal.

Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) was the most recorded plant species through Ireland's Citizen Science Portal in September 2024.

All-Ireland Mammal Symposium 2024

The National Biodiversity Data Centre was delighted to attend the All-Ireland Mammal Symposium 2024 which was held on the 4th and 5th October at the Atlantic Technological University in Galway. This event brought together academic and industry professionals working with mammals. Attendees heard talks on all aspects of mammal research including studies examining the distribution of species and novel monitoring techniques. Many presentations featured the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s Biodiversity Maps highlighting the importance of the portal as a tool in research and nature conservation.

Following the first day of talks a poster session took place where Dave Wall, Citizen Science Officer, presented a poster on “A Review of Irish Citizen Science Seal Records”. A poster entitled “Distribution and Rapid Risk Assessment for Short-tailed Vole (Microtus agrestis) for the island of Ireland” was presented by Invasive Species Engagement Officer, Kate Moore. The symposium provided an excellent opportunity to expand our knowledge of Ireland’s mammal fauna. Congratulations to the organisers on a successful event. We are already looking forward to the next AIMS in Belfast!

Distribution map of Short-tailed Vole (Microtus agrestis) on the island of Ireland to September 2024.

All-Ireland Pollinator Plan Team

Autumn is the time to plant a new orchard. Traditional orchards are fantastic for wildlife as they are made up of several habitats, including elements of woodland, hedgerow and meadow grassland. This mosaic of habitats is home to a range of biodiversity, including bumblebees, butterflies, birds, bats and beetles.

In collaboration with Irish Seed Savers, the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan developed a ‘How-to-guide: Traditional Orchards and Fruit Trees for Pollinators on the Farm’. This free guide has all the information you need on how to manage and create an orchard for biodiversity, including how to choose the right tree varieties, and a step-by-step guide to planting your trees.

Recent Records