Fortunately, in this digital age of smartphone apps, image recognition software and online ID guides, it\u2019s never been easier to tell different species apart. \u201cKnowing what things are is essential, and naming them is the first step,\u201d says ecologist Dr Mike Wells, director of Biodiversity by Design. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know it\u2019s a stag beetle, you\u2019re not going to be able to discover all the wonders of the thing.\u201d<\/p>
You may also like<\/strong><\/p> Since 1970, much of Britain\u2019s biodiversity has tumbled off a cliff, with 41 per cent of UK plant and animal species in decline. Once common garden creatures now appear on lists of conservation concern: hedgehogs<\/a>, red squirrels (since the Victorians introduced the grey); house martins, mistle thrushes, swifts and greenfinches; atleast six of our 18 native bat species; and half of our butterflies<\/a>.<\/p> Monitoring this gloomy picture has become a national obsession. Every year, thousands of \u2018citizen scientists\u2019 take part in Buglife\u2019s Bugs Matter survey \u2013 a grisly splatter-count of insects brought to rest on car number plates. There are audits of the living, too: the Big Butterfly Count<\/a>; the UK Ladybird Survey; BeeWalk; the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme; the Big Hedgehog Map; and the Great Stag [beetle] Hunt among them. The RSPB\u2019s Big Garden Birdwatch is the largest of them all, attracting some 540,000 volunteers this year.<\/p> As humans, our sense of place affects us deeply and psychologically<\/p><\/blockquote> \u201cThese days there\u2019s a feeling that there\u2019s not much we can do, which leads to a sense of despair,\u201d says Mike. \u201cBut data we collect locally can be sent to contribute to national databases to reveal trends across large areas, and by making an inventory of our garden wildlife, learning our patch and studying our gardens, we begin to see everything with fresh eyes. Doing this helps cure something called \u2018locational autism\u2019 \u2013 defined as knowing where we are, but not knowing where that is. As humans, our sense of place affects us deeply and psychologically. So, beyond the science, beyond the knowledge of biodiversity, there\u2019s one good reason to study your garden and the creatures within it.\u201d<\/p> Monitoring garden wildlife isn\u2019t just about measuring its decline; you can also gauge the positive impact of environmental activities, such as adding a wildlife pond<\/a>, building a bug hotel<\/a> or pursuing No-Mow May<\/a>. At Great Dixter<\/a> in East Sussex, ecologist Andy Phillips led a two-year audit (2017-2019) to assess a range of wildlife-friendly interventions, from turf roofs<\/a> and bug hotels to new meadow-mowing regimes. <\/p> Biodiversity isn\u2019t just about a few select species, but an integrated world with all parts impacting on each other<\/p><\/blockquote> \u201cOur efforts had seemed fragmented and incomplete,\u201d says head gardener Fergus Garrett, who commissioned the study. \u201cDabbling in a few things here and there didn\u2019t give us a handle on the overall picture. Biodiversity isn\u2019t just about a few select species, but an integrated world with all parts impacting on each other. No one was considering spiders, beetles, ants, hoverflies, flies, lichens, mosses and liverworts. We needed a comprehensive study to understand everything \u2013 then target our management appropriately.\u201d<\/p> And the audit paid off. Among the 2,029 species recorded at Dixter were two nationally endangered mining bee species, the white-bellied mining bee Andrena gravida<\/em> and oak-mining bee Andrena ferox<\/em>, as well as the amazing purple emperor butterfly Apatura iris<\/em> (pictured below), which declined in much of the UK over the 20th century.<\/p> While some audits provide a one-off snapshot, others chart changes over time. At Knepp Castle Estate<\/a> in West Sussex, comparison surveys have been made every year since rewilding began in 2001. More recently, the walled garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith with James Hitchmough, has been subject to some key baseline studies. \u201cWe\u2019ve looked at the invertebrates, birds<\/a> and butterflies using transects,\u201d says head gardener Charlie Harpur.<\/p> \u201cThese are fixed stations on a survey route through the garden. We\u2019ve also taken soil<\/a> profiles for analysis and used a microscope to survey the microfauna \u2013 bacteria, fungi, protozoa, amoeba, ciliates, Inspired by the Dixter findings, landscape designer Dan Pearson and his partner Huw Morgan commissioned an audit of Hillside, their 20-acre smallholding and garden near Bath, in 2022. \u201cThe \u201cEncouragingly for us as garden designers, two nationally scarce and quite locally distributed species of insect \u2013 the large yellow-faced bee (Hylaeus signatus<\/em>) and the ruby-tailed wasp (Chrysura radians<\/em>, pictured above) \u2013 were only found in our ornamental flower garden, where almost all the plants are non-native.\u201d<\/p> An audit is a big undertaking usually managed by professional ecologists and typically done on a larger site than a domestic garden, but gardeners can gain a deeper understanding of their plots and the Ecologist Mike Wells led the survey at Hillside, and has some good advice if you\u2019re tempted to audit your own garden. \u201cWading through a load of identification books can be overwhelming. Instead, start with the books that feed your enthusiasm: Michael Chinery writes about all the wildlife of the garden, so you can see what might interest you.<\/p> \u201cYou\u2019ll also need a good, high-resolution smartphone camera so you can submit photographs to specialist websites and groups on social media, where experts will be happy to identify things for you. Whatever helps us understand our place in the world and helps us connect with nature is undoubtedly good. It\u2019s incredibly joyful<\/p><\/blockquote> Keep a detailed list or spreadsheet of your findings. \u201cSome groups of British wildlife are not too diverse to get your head around,\u201d he says. \u201cFor example, we have only six native reptiles, seven native amphibians, about 18 bats, around 40 mammals and around 60 species of butterfly. Only a fraction of the UK\u2019s 600-plus bird species will visit your garden, and there are plenty of keen birders<\/a> who can help. The real challenge comes with the creepy crawlies \u2013 6,000-odd species of invertebrates have been recorded in the UK. It\u2019s a bit annoying that the most important faunal group, from a biodiversity point of view, is also the most challenging.\u201d<\/p> The secret is to build a network of knowledgeable friends you can ask for help. \u201cThere\u2019s no way you could learn to identify more than a tiny percentage of the species on our planet,\u201d says Mike. \u201cIt\u2019s not about having perfect knowledge or ticking them off on a list. Knowing what\u2019s in your garden, and being able to name it, goes far deeper. Whatever helps us understand our place in the world and helps us If you\u2019re tempted to record your own garden\u2019s biodiversity, group your wildlife into categories to make the audit easier. <\/p> Start with creatures you know and recognise \u2013 birds<\/a>, perhaps. The Big Garden Birdwatch technique is to set aside an hour to count only the birds that land in your garden, watching from a window. Just count the highest number of any species you see at any one time, to avoid counting any bird twice. For example, if you saw a group of four starlings, and towards the end of the hour you saw two starlings together, your final count would be four, not six. The RSPB has a useful ID guide complete with tally boxes to use, which you can download from its website<\/a>.<\/p> Insects are more challenging \u2013 there are 6,000-odd species of invertebrates in the UK, and it would take a lifetime to learn them all. Decide what level of detail you want and conduct your count accordingly. For instance, you might like to identify and count the pollinators that visit a particular nectar-rich plant<\/a>. First, Once you\u2019re feeling confident, make a Flower Insect Timed (FIT) Count. Choose a warm day and mark out a sunny 50cm x 50cm \u2018quadrat\u2019 survey area and set a timer for ten minutes. Tally each insect by placing a mark next to their name on your list, taking care to only count them once. To simplify matters, you could just identify the insects into their broad groups (bumblebees, hoverflies etc) and any you don\u2019t recognise, count as other insects.<\/p> For ground-dwelling invertebrates, make a transect. This is typically a 5m line of string stretched taut across a survey area and secured with garden canes or tent pegs. Here you can record any beetles, worms, ants etc that you find along its length. For a more integrated picture, why not create a transect path around your garden with 50cm x 50cm quadrats as key \u2018survey stations\u2019 en route. Take a soil sample at one of the points to assess soil pH, texture, organic matter and earthworm activity for a more holistic picture.<\/p> You can use many other techniques \u2013 from pond dipping using a net and ID tray, to moth trapping using a sheet and torch at night \u2013 but take care not to harm your subjects. To make your data meaningful, This contains a microphone that can pick up ultrasonic bat calls, which the detector then converts into an audible output.<\/p> Buy a heterodyne bat detector from the RSPB (\u00a380.00)<\/a><\/p> This uses an infrared sensor to pick up movement that triggers the camera to take and store photographs or videos automatically. Night recording is possible using infrared LEDs. They can be powered by rechargeable batteries, and controlled via a smartphone app. <\/p> Here are the best wildlife cameras to buy<\/a>.<\/p> This involves using a bright light with emissions in the UV part of the spectrum illuminating a white sheet to lure in the moths at dusk. Identify and, if you like, count them, but be careful not to harm them.<\/p> Browse conservation moth traps at NHBS<\/a>.<\/p> Simple soil test kits are available from most good garden centres and online garden retailers. Here are some of our favourite soil pH testers<\/a>.<\/p>![\"The](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/11\/RBD070623-43v2_preview-edited-1-scaled.jpg\")
Why do a biodiversity audit?<\/h2>
![\"Great](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/11\/RBD060623-135-HDRv2_preview-scaled.jpg\")
Creating valuable habitats<\/h3>
![\"Seven-spotted](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1346379434-scaled.jpg\")
How to identify garden wildlife<\/h2>
![\"Biodiversity](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/11\/DSC6303-Edit_preview-edited-scaled.jpg\")
How to do a biodiversity audit of your garden<\/h2>
Count the birds<\/h3>
Identify insects<\/h3>
![\"Bumblebee\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1360568150-scaled.jpg\")
Useful kit for a biodiversity audit<\/h2>
Heterodyne Bat Detector <\/h3>
Wildlife or \u2018trail\u2019 camera <\/h3>
Moth trap <\/h3>
Soil tests <\/h3>