Local Record Centre pushes the Gateway over 50 million records
The NBN only works because of the data provided by the many organisations which are part of the Network. Without the data providers the NBN wouldn’t exist, so every record is vital to its success. When the records get to a certain number however, there is a further sense of achievement. The latest milestone was the upload of the 50 millionth record in March 2010.
The record in question was that of a micro moth, Mompha ochraceella (Buff Cosmet), which was recorded near Cranfield in a moth trap in 1982.
The 50 millionth record is a story in itself, but the fact that it came from a local record centre is more good news. The Bedfordshire and Luton Biodiversity Recording and Monitoring Centre is hosted within The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough and operates with three staff.
Local record centres hold many millions of records and so each one that makes its way onto the Gateway is a step closer to it being the most comprehensive source of wildlife data for the UK.
This record also helps to demonstrate the use of NBN web services in a couple of examples:
The larva mining activity of the moth on Epilobium hirsuitum (Great willowherb) can be found on the Natural History Museum’s Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects’ website. This website uses the NBN web services (via the Biological Records Centre) to show the distribution of the moth on the Gateway. From this map, it shows that this species, although widespread, is actually underrepresented on the Gateway, which is why this dataset, consisting of 47,000 micro moth records, will help to make the distribution of micro moths more representative, at least in Bedfordshire.
Keith Balmer, the Biodiversity Network Officer for Bedfordshire and Luton BRMC, has also used Gateway web services to allow users to map their records on the Bedfordshire Natural History Society website. This is a good example of how Gateway web services can be used and also shows what a local record centre can do for a local natural history society by putting their records onto the NBN Gateway. Indeed, Bedfordshire Natural History Society in partnership with the BRMC has put over 520,000 species records onto the Gateway.
Why not take a look at the data provider list and find out who else is providing data to the Gateway?
If you want to know more about local record centres or would like to get in touch with them visit the LERC database
If you would like to become a data provider, as we set our sights on the 100 millionth record, you should read our data guidebook for more information and we will happily offer you any advice that you need to get started.
Let’s work towards the next milestone together.