Scotland's Wildlife – an assessment of biodiversity in 20

5. The majority (84%) of 867 non-native species for which comparative records of
geographical distribution were available in 2004, showed no change. However,
14% had increased compared with 2% that decreased.
6. According to the Countryside Survey, vascular plant diversity fell by nearly 10%
between 1998 and 2007. Competitive plant species increased, as did plant
species associated with wet and with shady conditions. Species tolerant of harsh
environments (such as low nutrient soils) and those associated with open,
disturbed conditions (ruderals) decreased. Species associated with more fertile
conditions also decreased.
People and biodiversity
Among the five indicators that reflect people’s engagement with biodiversity:
- The composition of greenspace in built-up areas showed little overall change
(2007-2009);
- the number of adults in Scotland visiting the outdoors annually remained at
around 78% (2003-2007);
- in a survey of attitudes to biodiversity in 2006 and 2009, around 80% of adults
in Scotland responded positively to questions of interest in, relevance of, and
concern for Scotland’s biodiversity;
- involvement in biodiversity conservation (2006-2008) and membership of
biodiversity NGOs (2007-2009) increased.
The 22 biodiversity indicators for Scotland, together with seven supplementary natural
heritage indicators and three National Indicators from the National Performance
Framework, are published on the SNH web site. They form a vital part of the evidence
base for reporting on the state of biodiversity during International Biodiversity Year.
Overall they show a slowing of deterioration and many improvements. Increases among
12 8 of the 32 indicators, such as for terrestrial breeding birds, point to improvements in
Scotland’s biodiversity.
Among the three National Indicators, the index of abundance of terrestrial breeding
birds showed an increase in the mean index for 65 terrestrial breeding bird species to
131 in 2008 from 127 in 2007 and from a baseline of 100 in 1994. Since 1994,
woodland bird abundance increased by 64%; farmland bird abundance increased by
26%; and upland bird abundance has shown no overall change. The terrestrial breeding
bird trend in Scotland is relatively favourable compared to trends for the UK as a whole
and more widely across Europe.
However, indicators are not selected just to convey good news. An overview of trends
for the 32 indicators (summarised in Table 11.1, below) follows: baseline established
(5); biological events occurring earlier in the season (1); little/no change (3); fluctuating
trend (2); divergent trend (3); increase pointing to positive outcomes (12); increase
pointing to negative outcomes, i.e. for invasive non-native species (1); increase in built
development and it’s visibility in the landscape (2); decreased / deteriorated (3).
8 Note that the three National Indicators have close counterparts among the Biodiversity Indicators.
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