Biodiversity of England

Introduction

Biodiversity is the variety of all the living organisms - plants, animals, bacteria and fungi - with which we share the planet. Biodiversity is undoubtedly important for all of us. From keeping our reservoirs clean to the growth of food in the fields, all these processes are underpinned by the wildlife - or biodiversity - that surrounds it, and without any of these, other species simply would not be able to survive. It is not just the presence of these species that matters most, but their interactions with each other that create a complex system of life.

However, from building homes to constructing transport networks, human actions put increasing pressure on this diversity of life, reducing the biodiversity that can be found in any one place. This is causing biodiversity around the world, including the UK, to decline at an alarming rate.

In this project, using open data comprising a mix of expert data and crowdsourced data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, we investigate and provide valuable insights into the situation of biodiversity in England.

Part One

Overview of Biodiversity in England

We first measure the level of biodiversity for each Local Authority District (LAD) for the period of 2012 to 2021 using three metrics:

Occurrences density (Occ. Density): the number of occurrences per unit area
Species richness density (Sp. Density): the number of unique species per unit area
Species evenness (Sp. Evenness): a measure of the relative abundance of all species in the LAD on a scale of 0 to 1

The choropleth map and boxplot allows us to investigate the biodiversity level in different parts of England and how they have changed over the years. We can see that generally, while occurrences density and species richness density have improved over the years, species evenness have declined. The improvement in biodiversity levels also seem to be unevenly distributed in different parts of England, as shown by the widening spread of occurrences density and species richness density as well as increasing spatial concentration of LADs with higher biodiversity levels over the years. This also reveals potential data bias introduced by the use of crowdsourced data, with more occurrences recorded by contributors in urban areas and in recent years.

Part Two

Locations of Critically Endangered Species

Here, we map out the locations of critically endangered species and compare them against the locations of National Nature Reserves (NNRs). We can see that there is little overlap between the two, even though the NNRs were established to protect some of the most important habitats and species in England. The siting of new NNRs in future can be informed by the locations of critically endangered species to provide greater protection for these species.

The yearly counts for each critically endangered species are also plotted below to see how well they are doing over the years.

Part Three

Biodiversity Hotspots in London

In this final part, areas with high density of occurrences were identified using a clustering algorithm known as OPTICS (Ordering Points To Identify the Clustering Structure). 13 biodiversity hotspots were identified in London, and K-means clustering was then used to partition these hotspots according to their species richness density and evenness. Based on the results, two types of hotspots were identified - those with higher species richness density and evenness, and those with lower species richness density and evenness. The map shows the locations of these hotspots, while the chart shows their species richness density and evenness.

Relevant authorities can consider prioritizing biodiversity conservation efforts in these hotspots, especially those with higher species richness density and evenness.