This website provides access to the results of Plant Atlas 2020, the most comprehensive survey of plants (flowering plants, ferns and charophytes) ever undertaken in Britain and Ireland. It is based on over 30 million records, collected mainly by volunteer recorders of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) between 2000 and 2019, as well as previous nationwide surveys undertaken in the 1950s and 1990s. For Plant Atlas 2020 these records have been summarized as 10 × 10 km grid square (hectad) distribution maps for 3,495 species, alongside expert accounts of their national status, habitats, biogeography and trends. Overview maps allow comparison of the modern distribution with earlier time periods and to plot the 2 × 2 km grid square (tetrad) frequency within each hectad. Zoomable maps allow the viewer to explore the data at hectad and tetrad scale. Changes in the hectad distribution are summarized as trends between 1930–2019 (long-term) and 1987–2019 (short-term) for Britain, Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. A photographic gallery accompanies each species as well as a summary of conservation designations and threat statuses. The website also presents information on the ‘apparency’ of each species (i.e. the frequency with which a species was recorded on a daily basis between 2000 and 2019) as well as flowering and leaf phenology and altitudinal range plotted against latitude.
Links to other Plant Atlas 2020 outputs:
- A two-volume book including maps, accounts and graphics for 2,863 species;
- The introductory chapters from this book are available to download: download introductory chapters;
- The references from this book are available to download: download references;
- A summary of the main findings of the Plant Atlas 2020 project for Britain is available to download: download main findings for Britain in English; download main findings for Britain in Welsh;
- A summary of the main findings of the Plant Atlas 2020 project for Ireland is available to download: download main findings for Ireland.
- All of the data required to reproduce the maps and figures presented in the book and website are available via Zenodo (this search should find all Plant Atlas 2020 datasets on that platform).