The Biological Records Centre (BRC) established in 1964, is a national focus in the UK for terrestrial and

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

species recording. The term "biological records centre" is also used in the context of local centres, now frequently referred to as "local environmental records centres" (LERCs).

History

The Biological Records Centre (BRC) was set up in 1964 by the

Nature Conservancy (UK) The Nature Conservancy was a British government agency established in 1949 under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, drafted in part by Max Nicholson. It was a research council for natural sciences and 'biological service'. ...

at its recently opened Monks Wood Experimental Station near

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

. BRC developed from the

Atlas of the British Flora The ''Atlas of the British Flora'' is a book by Franklyn Perring and S. Max Walters, published by the Botanical Society of the British Isles. It was first published in 1962, with a second edition published in 1976, and a third in 1982. The atl ...

project of the

Botanical Society of the British Isles The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Botani ...

(BSBI) to map the distribution of British (and Irish) flowering plants, which had established basic principles for

biological recording Biological recording is the scientific study of the distribution of living organisms, biological records describe the presence, abundance, associations and changes, both in time and space, of wildlife.Burnett, J., Copp, C., Harding, P. (1995) Biolo ...

in the UK. The former BSBI project leader, Franklyn Perring, established BRC with the project's original data and data processing equipment.

Function

As part of the

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH, also known by the former name CEH) is a centre for excellence in environmental science across water, land and air. The organisation has a long history of investigating, monitoring and modelling envir ...

(UKCEH), BRC provides a focus for the collation, management, dissemination and interpretation of species observations (biological records). BRC is now based at UKCEH's Wallingford site, near

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Most records are collected by volunteer recording schemes and societies, which are integral to the work of BRC. These activities are supported through a long-term funding partnership between the

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

(NERC), which is now part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the

Joint Nature Conservation Committee The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the public body that advises the Government of the United Kingdom and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation. Originally established under the Environmental Pro ...

(JNCC).

Activities

Together with more than 80 recording schemes and societies, BRC supports biological recording for a wide range of plant and animal groups. BRC helps the recording community to publish

atlases An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditionally been ...

, datasets and other online resources, providing information for research, policy and the conservation of

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

. Through the use of technology BRC helps to harness the enthusiasm and knowledge of naturalists and to enable them to collate and analyse their records. To celebrate the BRC's 50th Anniversary, a special issue of the

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society The ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a direct descendant of the oldest biological journal in the world, the '' Transactions of the Linnean Society''. It succeeded the earlier title in 1969. The journal specializes in evolution, an ...

was published with 23 research and review articles covering the centre's work. In addition to its work with recording schemes and societies, BRC has played a key role in the greater integration of biological recording activities in the UK, most recently through the

National Biodiversity Network The National Biodiversity Network (UK) (NBN) is a collaborative venture set up in 2000 in the United Kingdom committed to making biodiversity information available through various media, including on the internet via the NBN Atlas—the data searc ...

(NBN). BRC helped to found the National Federation for Biological Recording (NFBR) in 1986 and carried out much of the survey and analysis for the report of the Coordinating Commission for Biological Recording (CCBR) published in 1995,Burnett, J., Copp, C., Harding, P. (1995) Biological Recording in the United Kingdom Present practice and future development Summary Report, ''Coordinating Commission for Biological Recording'' available fro
download from Natural Environment Research Council
/ref> both of which helped shape the future of biological recording in the UK.

Local biological records centres

A network of local biological records centres or local environmental records centres (usually abbreviated to BRC, LRC or LERC,) covers most areas of the UK. All local centres are entirely independent of the Biological Records Centre. The first such local centre was the Natural History Record Bureau at what is now Tullie House Museum in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

which opened in 1902. As with many LERCs it grew out of the biological recording work of the local natural history society. LERCs have a complementary role to BRC and recording schemes as systems "''for collating biological data from a wide range of sources (including organisations and individuals), for ensuring that data are properly validated and catalogued, and for providing access to them, thereby acting as a focus for biological information."''''Running a Local Record Centre'', The Wildlife Trusts/NBN. 2001. Local Environmental Records Centres are non-profit, partnership-led organisations and typically organised on a county or multi-county basis. Increasingly they are becoming better networked through the activities of the Association of Local Environmental Records Centres, the

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

The Wildlife Trusts partnership The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

and NFBR, which became the

National Forum for Biological Recording National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in 2013. rECOrd is an example of a Local Environmental Records Centre.

References

External links

Biological Records Centre (BRC): Official websiteNatural Environment Research Council (NERC): Official websiteCentre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH): Official websiteBotanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI): Official websiteJoint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC): Official websiteNational Biodiversity Network (NBN): Official websiteNatural England: Official websiteSpecial Issue: Fifty years of the Biological Record CentreAssociation of Local Environmental Records CentresNational Biodiversity NetworkNational Forum for Biological RecordingNational Federation for Biological Recording
{{authority control 1964 establishments in the United Kingdom Biological research institutes in the United Kingdom Conservation in the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council Organisations based in Oxfordshire Research institutes in Oxfordshire Scientific organizations established in 1964