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Figure 6. The number of records of lschnura elegans per year, showing changes in recorder effort
By now, there were many local or county recording
schemes, and several of the local Biological Records
Centres (listed and reviewed by Berry (1988)),
which had been established by district or county
councils during the 1970s, began to have a serious
involvement with Odonata. In most counties,
however, dragonfly recording was organised without
the involvement of a local records centre, and, as
always, the greatest contribution to improved
coverage was due to the hard work and dedication
of a small band of skilled amateur naturalists. The
checking of incoming records by the scheme
organiser (explained in the section describing the
data set) entailed a very large volume of
correspondence with individual contributors, as well
as local and county organisers.
In the newsletters in the early 1980s, the suggestion
for setting up a society for odonatists in Britain was
made, at first tentatively, and then with greater
confidence. The result was the foundation of the
British Dragonfly Society (BDS) in 1983. The early
history of the Society is reviewed by Merritt (1987).
Among the benefits of the formation of the BDS have
been regular indoor and field meetings, the
publication of the Journal of the British Dragonfly
Society and a newsletter, and the establishment of a
number of local groups. Some BDS local groups
took on a role in recording immediately, and others
were to do so in the coming years. In some areas,
this recording is through the regular monitoring of
important sites; other groups are studying the
distribution and habitats of individual species. The
aims of the BDS are wide-ranging, and are not
primarily concerned with recording. However, the
increased publicity for Odonata and the Recording
Scheme, which the activities of BDS have fostered,
has undoubtedly introduced new people to the
Scheme.
The Odonata Recording Scheme newsletter
continued to guide recorders' efforts through the
1980s, providing updated draft maps and
Year
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summaries of outstanding new records, as well as
pointers for fieldwork and advice on identification.
The Scheme continued to expand, so that in 1983 a
separate organiser was established for Ireland, and
in 1987 a network of regional recorders was set up
in Britain, to help with the initial vetting of records
and the transfer of data to BRC record cards (see
Preface for personal acknowledgements). This
network also introduced the possibility of regular
regional reports in the newsletter, and provided a
means to strengthen the links with local recording
projects and groups.
By the mid-1980s, the overall patterns of species
distribution were well known, and new records
seldom changed the national picture substantially.
In some counties, the focus had already moved to
recording and mapping at a smaller scale (1 km or
2 km squares), but the application of Odonata data
to nature conservation revealed a shortcoming in
many of the records: despite regular requests in the
newsletter, most recorders had simply recorded the
presence of adult dragonflies, and had not routinely
provided evidence of breeding. It has often been
shown that adult Odonata frequently occur beside
water bodies which may not be suitable for
breeding, yet it is the breeding sites which
conservationists need to protect. To help provide
the missing details, a new initiative, the Key Sites
Project, was launched in 1988 (Merritt 1988), with a
new recordng card, the RA70 (see Figure 12).
Records from this Project, up to the end of 1990, are
incorporated in the maps in this Atlas. The Key Sites
Project and other initiatives are described in the
chapter on Future recording.