UK Bryophyte, Lichen, and Invertebrate Occupancy Trends (1970-2015)

5,293 UK invertebrate, bryophyte, and lichen species have annual occupancy and trend estimates from 1970 to 2015. Data were generated from observations collated by UK recording societies using a Bayesian occupancy model, producing posterior samples, summary statistics, and annual growth rates. Estimates are provided at the country level for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and for the UK and Great Britain.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term population trends for specific invertebrate groups based on annual percentage growth rates.
• Assessing regional biodiversity differences by comparing country-level occupancy estimates for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
• Validating ecological models using 1000 posterior samples from the modelled occupancy distribution.
• Informing conservation status reviews with mean occupancy statistics and credible intervals.
• Studying fine-grained (1x1km) biodiversity change over a 45-year period.

Strengths

• Covers a large taxonomic scope of 5,293 species across three major groups.
• Provides a long temporal series of 45 years (1970-2015) for trend analysis.
• Includes model diagnostics like credible intervals and rhat convergence measures.
• Offers data at multiple geographic scales, from countries to 1x1km grid squares.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not provided in the available metadata.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and licensing information are missing from all sources.
• The dataset's update history is inconsistent, with only one platform listing a 'last updated' date of 2026-04-16.

Provenance

Source

Observations collated by UK recording schemes and societies, modeled by the UK-SCAPE programme (NERC award NE/R016429/1).

Collection Method

Bayesian occupancy modeling applied to species observation data.

Time Range

1970 to 2015

Freshness

2026-04-16 10:10:36.257837

Geography

United Kingdom, including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain.