In search of 1500 species

Ecologists Graeme Lyons and Dave Green set out to try to find, identify and record a huge number of species - 1,500, including 1,000 invertebrates, in 24 hours in West Sussex as a fundraiser for Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve management. Graeme tells us how they got on.

We didn't get to 1500 species - we got to 1,069 (expect this number to change a bit as I process the data, I suspect it might go up a little). 

This is more than we achieved in 2017, but not by much, and interestingly in 2017 we got to 1,000 species way before we did this time (in 2017, species 1,000 was Drilus flavescens at around 7:30pm at Levin Down nature reserve, while this time, it was Rosy Footman at 10pm). 

Despite seven years more experience, better planning and better health (hay fever and bad knees didn't scupper us this time), we struggled at times to build up that big list of inverts we had hoped for.

It wasn't for want of trying. The whole thing was a mixture of incredible highs and a few lows. Getting up at 10:45pm with just four hours sleep was brutal. Then hearing Nightjars, Field Crickets, Woodlarks and Nightingales all around Burton and watching the sunrise there was just wonderful. Feeling faint on Levin Down was nasty but seeing the huge diversity of wildlife at Hoyle Farm was a site to behold. From species two at midnight being Field Cricket through to the final species at 11:59pm being Great Silver Water Beetle, we did not stop for the whole 24 hours except to drive between sites and eat.

Despite great weather in the day, between 2 am and 8 am it got very cold, and the dew was so heavy at Burton Pond it made sampling impossible. It's not been a great season for moths either, so the first moth traps at Burton were very light. We also had a couple of sites that didn't produce as many species as we had hoped and finally, by 5pm, the sun went in and it got very cold again. It's also a lot harder to identify species at the microscope when you are exhausted. And collecting specimens takes time too. Game theory is quite key to this challenge and some things that you think will work in your favour don't necessarily pay off. However, all of these specimens will be identified (probably this week looking at the weather). And I will include them when I write a more detailed blog.

A few early stats include 109 species of spider, 15 species of butterfly (including this lovely Brown Hairstreak larva at Hoyle Farm) and and 146 beetles. I was hoping for something like 400 beetles and 200 spiders, clearly I was wrong to aim so high. Is 1,000 inverts possible in day? I think so easily but maybe if you are only doing inverts. Not sure how many plants we have but the Sand Catchfly at Climping was a highlight for Dave.

And finally, the really amazing thing is how much people have donated! We have raised £2,284 for Sussex Wildlife's Trust reserve management. A huge thanks to everyone who donated, especially to the Pebble Trust, Edward Norfolk and Charlie Burrell for their incredibly generous donations. You can still donate here on the Just Giving page. Anyways, watch out for a full write up later this week.

Find out how to donate and look out for Graeme's follow-up blog here