Parataxonomy works!

Loyal readers (as with radio 4's 'More or Less') will recall that I have spent quite a bit of field work this year collecting fungus gnats and craneflies for their respective schemes. I have shown how I store the samples and have briefly reported back on the numbers of species recorded on my Scottish jaunt.

The other day, Peter Chandler sent me details of what I had recorded this autumn from my 'constant effort site' - Mitcham Common. It transpires that I did moderately well and recorded 120 gnat species and a further 11 species of Drosophilds. Not bad for a bit of parataxonomy.

So, here is a small chart to show how the list built up. In theory the list is heading towards a fairly low asymptote but I think this is really just a function of the time of year, with numbers rapidly diminishing in late October and November. There should be a new rise next year once the spring fauna kicks in, so it will be interesting to see what else I add next year. Peter tells me that the very richest sites have lists approaching 300 species, which is way beyond any of my expectations. Nevertheless, I am hopeful of getting maybe to 170 species.

Numbers of fungus gnats recorded from Mitcham Common in Autumn 2017 represented as the total species caught each date, the number of additions to the list and then the running total for species recorded.

Hopefully this will encourage others to think about doing similar surveys. Many recording scheme organisers will look at preserved specimens, especially if they help to fill in gaps or improve phenology data. Have a chat to them before bombarding them. It is definitely one way we can improve coverage.