WELCOME TO NBIS

 


Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service (NBIS) is a Local Record Centre holding information on species, geodiversity, habitats and protected sites for the whole of the county of Norfolk. NBIS is a member of the Association of Local Environmental Records Centres and operates within the guidelines of the National Biodiversity Network. NBIS functions with guidance from a Steering Group, serving the need for environmental information in Norfolk through the collection, collation, assessment and interpretation of high quality data.

 

NBIS provides:

·         A single source of environmental information for Norfolk

·         Collation of available data for Norfolk

·         Validation and evaluation of these data

·         Identification of gaps in knowledge – taxonomic, geographical and temporal

·         A permanent and secure location for data

·         Improved flow of data from individual recorders to users at both local and national levels

·         Quick and easy access to information for all

 

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Species of the Month - Cuckoo

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News

 

The April E-Bulletin ("Biodiversity News in Norfolk"): available to DOWNLOAD NOW (10/05/13)

Download and read no. 25 here. 

You can also fill in our reader survey for the E-bulletin here.

Sign up for our monthly e-bulletin - get the latest biodiversity news by clicking here and sending

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A collection of interesting national biodiversity news from April (08/05/13)

IEEM has become CIEEM 
 Professional Ecology and Environmental Management is changing as IEEM  becomes CIEEM with a Royal Charter.
http://www.nbn.org.uk/News/Latest-news/Professional-Ecology-and-Environm...

Long-term farm research gives farmland birds a lift
For the last five years, Hillesden Farm in Buckinghamshire has been the home of a detailed study where areas of the farm have been managed under different Environmental Stewardship options to provide a scientific comparison on how best to tackle the ‘hungry gap’ for farmland birds - the period between mid-winter and spring when naturally available and planted bird seed food can be in short supply in the countryside. The Hillesden Farm study showed that winter food habitats were largely exhausted by the end of December and that the separate provision of food at the farm level appeared to significantly increase the number of birds surviving over the winter.
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2013/050313.aspx

A recent paper in the Journal of Wildlife Management says that increasing deer densities are damaging Britain's ecosystems and that annual culls of 50-60% are needed for certain species.   
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.530/full
http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2013/March/deer-cull-research
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21688447

National Federation for Biological Recording has become the National Forum for Biological Recording.  It came to life at the annual conference in April.
http://www.nfbr.org.uk/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page

Aquatic invasive species threat to UK rivers - Wildlifeextra.com
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/invasive-aquatics.html

Parks, gardens & green space in urban areas can improve the wellbeing and quality of life of people living there - BBC News Health - 22 April 2013
http://bbc.in/108jrTx

Forestry Commission - News - next generation may be the last to see the native bluebell - Forestry Commission - 17 April 2013
http://t.co/uYftjcYc0f

Citizen science projects are the ultimate in public outreach, but researchers need to know their goals - Naturejobs.com - 10th April 2013
http://j.mp/151dake

The UK's nature reserves act as 'ecological welcome mats' to new species, according to scientists - BBC Nature News - 10th April 2013
http://t.co/ZP5qUvn0kR

Taxonomists an endangered species - ETH Life
http://t.co/EehLyvxe1o

New report looks at our intergrated species monitoring programme - Natural England - 04 April 2013
http://ow.ly/jJSz8
 
Helpful wildlife that keep pests out of the veg patch - The Telegraph - 04 April 2013
http://t.co/riD6x68F2v

Are childhood experiences the key to the long-term health of nature and the conservation sector? - The Ecologist 04 April 2013
http://t.co/MUcBuu0KQs

Food chain in disarray after changes in voles' boom-and-bust breeding cycle - The Independent - 04 April 2013
http://ind.pn/12kcXs5

This frozen spring has cost us the buzz of the English bumblebee - The Independent - 03 April 2013
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/nature_studies/this-froz...

Field Studies Council (FSC) and Natural England announce ‘citizen science’ programme to train volunteer wildlife recorders - Natural England - 02 April 2013
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2013/020413.aspx

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An update from the Moss and Liverwort worlds, including a new county record (03/05/2013)

Robin Stevenson has provided us with an early 2013 update on some interesting Bryophyte records.  As it seems is customary he ends with poking fun at our occasional cake days and the excellent wildlife cake baked by one of our volunteers earlier in the year.....

A couple of snippets for you.
1) a new County record, 2) a couple of reappearances after long gaps.
 
1. On the Norfolk Bryology Group meeting to Marsham Great Wood, on 23rd February, Plagiothecium laetum (Bright Silk-moss) was found, new to Norfolk.
 
2. On 15th February, whilst making their way to Helhoughton Common to join up with the Norfolk Bryology Group, two Cambridge bryologists (Mark Hill and Jonathan Shanklin), stopped off in Helhoughton churchyard and found Leptobarbula berica (Beric Beard-moss). This is a very tiny, and therefore easily overlooked plant which was first found in Norfolk back in 1967, growing on damp brickwork on the Corn Exchange in King’s Lynn. It vanished from that site when the building was repointed and the down pipes repaired, although it was found in east Norfolk in 2011, in Gawdy Hall Big Wood. It is, however, a pleasure to welcome it back to west Norfolk.
 
The liverwort Frullania tamarisci (Tamarisk Scalewort) was last recorded in 1986, growing on a willow in Cranberry Rough. Much to my surprise a healthy colony turned up, again on willow, in Bawsey Country Park on the outskirts of King’s Lynn on March 15th this year.
 
If anybody decides they are going to do a Moss Cake for an office cake day, I am (in exchange for a slice of the cake), prepared to offer any technical assistance which may be needed to ensure accuracy.
Cheers,
 
Robin
CR Stevenson

Photos: Robin Stevenson. Top Plagiothecium laetum at Marsham Great Wood Feb 2013; bottom Frullania tamarisci at Bawsey Country Park

 

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Norfolk Species Surveillance Network

NBIS are taking part in a Defra funded pilot study that aims to establish a volunteer species surveillance network across Norfolk.

We will be recording:

Fungi
Lichen
Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts)
Vascular plants
Beetles
Hymenoptera (bees and wasps)
Butterflies
Day-flying moths
Bats

There's a piece missing... record ANY wildlife you have seen here!

You can help us in recording wildlife in Norfolk at anytime of the year -  by sending us records of any sighting, of any species, anywhere in Norfolk.

We also do not just collate information on rare or protected species, nor do we just record species within our public surveys - please send us records of any species.........even a blackbird in your garden!

Events


Go wild at Barton Broad
Sunday 12th May
http://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/Home/News/Go-Wild-at-Barton-Broad...

Public Policy Exchange Symposium “Protecting our most precious resource: tackling water pollution from the urban environment” 

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