UK Biodiversity Indicator C4a, Status of UK priority species - relative abundance

This spreadsheet is the underlying data for the biodiversity indicator C4a, Status of UK priority species - relative abundance. Priorities for species and habitat conservation are set at a country level through country biodiversity or environment strategies. Each country has an identified list of priority species, which are of high conservation concern due, for example, to restricted range or population declines. The indicator shows relative population changes of priority species in the UK for which population abundance data are available. Priority species are defined as those on one or more of the biodiversity lists of each UK country (Natural Environmental and Rural Communities Act 2006 - Section 41 (England) and Section 42 (Wales), Northern Ireland Priority Species List, Scottish Biodiversity List). The combined list contains 2,890 species in total. Of these 2,890 species, the 213 for which robust quantitative time series of relative species abundance are available are included in the indicator. These 213 species include birds (101), butterflies (21), mammals (12) and moths (79). This selection is taxonomically limited at present; it includes no vascular or non-vascular plants, fungi, amphibians, reptiles, or fish. The only invertebrates included are butterflies and moths. This is one of a suite of 24 UK biodiversity indicators published by JNCC on behalf of Defra; the latest publication date was 19 January 2016 - for indicator C4a the latest data are for 2012. The supporting technical document details the methodology used to create the indicator.