Launch Event!
SERC held the official launch event of the community mapping project on Monday 4th October. This was done in conjunction with the Taunton Wards and we’re now starting to see other parishes take the first step and set up their community mapping projects on iNaturalist.
A video of the launch event was recorded and can be seen here;
About this map
Welcome to the Community Wildlife Mapping Project.
Here you will find details about how this map works and links to additional learning resources. One such great place to learn more, is the new Somerset Wildlife Trust Team Wilder Resources page. Here you will find excellent guides on habitat creation and species identification, there might even be other projects in your area you’d enjoy being involved in!
As you will see the taxon have been divided into groups of the most common types you’ll see, this has been done to try and keep the display of data as simple as possible. Each one will have a different colour pin and will appear as a point on the map.
Plants
Birds
Lepidoptera
Mammals
Reptiles and Amphibians
Other
Alongside the species pins, there are also layers you can toggle on and off. These additional layers are there to help you visualise important areas, such as your local ecological networks, and particular sites of interest. The data you record will add to this, and over time new features can be added to help visualise this data. Features such as hotspots and corridors, alongside biodiversity and abundance metrics. By engaging in this process, we hope to start to see how the biodiversity being recorded changes over time and to find out about those special areas that might not necessarily be currently considered as important for wildlife.