Bird Conservation Targeting Project (BCTP) in the UK, archived data (2001-2010) - sensitive records

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Description

The Bird Conservation Targeting Project (BCTP) produces breeding distribution maps for a suite of rare and declining farmland and woodland birds. The maps can be used to guide the prescription of land management advice based on the species already breeding in an area, or for allocating funding towards sites known to be important for birds. The data cover a 5-year period, and are up-dated annually. Data are collated a wide range of sources to produce the most comprehensive maps possible. The data are displayed as presence-only records. Absence of a record does not necessarily indicate a true absence record, as there may be no data available. Data compiled in different years should not be used to analyse trends, as the amount of data available to the project varied from year to year.

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BCTP outputs were first produced in England in 2004, in Wales and Northern Ireland in 2008, and in Scotland in 2009. This dataset contains the non-sensitive records from 2001 - 2008, which were compiled in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. These are archived data. For targeting purposes, the current data (available in a separate dataset) should be used. The non-sensitive records are in a separate dataset on the NBN.

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The species selection varies in each country. There are sensitive records for 3 species in England, 4 species in Scotland, 4 species in Northern Ireland, and 2 species in Wales.

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The BCTP is a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), Forestry Commission England (FCE), Forestry Commission Wales (FCW), Forest Service (FS), Natural England (NE), Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The BCTP partners are grateful to the contributions of the data providers listed at www.rspb.org.uk/targeting.

Geographic Description

England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

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The data are presence-only records, and are summarised at 2 km resolution. The majority of records are shown publicly at 10km resolution. In some cases, the data are shown at better resolution than advised by the Rare Breeding Bird Panel (RBBP). The resolution used for these data has been agreed by consultation with a selection of species experts (including RSPB, BTO and RBBP staff) who believe that this is the optimal resolution at which to show the data for conservation gain.

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Due to the nature of the data collation, the extent of coverage is unknown. The data reflect the availability of data, and records may be sparser in more remote areas with fewer recorders, particularly in the north of Scotland and Northern Ireland. The lack of a species record should not be interpreted as absence of the species.

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This dataset is not identical to the original dataset produced by the BCTP, which is used for targeting. At full resolution, this dataset shows data as 2km grid squares. The original dataset shows the data as circular buffers with 2km diameter, centred at the centroid of the corresponding 2km square. The public resolution for this dataset is 10km, and on the NBN the data show as 10km squares. The original dataset shows the data as circular buffers with 7km diameter, centred at the centroid of the corresponding 10km square.

Data quality

These data were collated from many sources, and include both data gathered by trained field-workers, expert volunteers, and data submitted by the public. The data have been validated by local experts, and are of a high quality.

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These data have been mapped and checked for sensitivities and typographical/geographical errors.

Methods

The data were collated from a wide range of sources including local bird clubs and bird recorders, local record centres, BirdTrack, RSPB datasets, and BTO datasets, and the NBN. The data were summarised to the tetrad level, and validated by local experts to remove spurious, and non-breeding records.

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In order to verify records and validate the dataset, the data have been mapped and thoroughly checked.

Citation

"The following acknowledgements of copyright and database right ownership, must be included in a conspicuous position in all copies of data and outputs: ""Reproduced by permission of the Bird Conservation Targeting Project. © Bird Conservation Targeting Project, 2010 (a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), Forestry Commission England (FCE), Forestry Commission Wales (FCW), Forest Service (FS), Natural England (NE), Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)). All rights reserved.""

The organisations contributing data to the project must also be acknowledged as follows: ""The Bird Conservation Targeting Project partners are grateful to the contributions of the data providers listed at www.rspb.org.uk/targeting"", and to the many vounteers who collected these data."

Rights

CC-BY

Digitised records