European Ocean Biodiversity Information System

Purpose of data capture: The majority of the records have come from volunteers as part of the activities of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society whose objectives include the promotion and advancement of the study of the flora, fauna, geology and archaeology of the county. Methods of data capture: Historic data before 1970s has come from books and journals. Data from the last 40 years has mostly come from ad hoc field survey by local experts and enthusiasts, though there have been some targetted surveys, including surveys done for the Nature Conservancy Council. Geographical coverage: Isle of Wight and nearby waters. The records are largely ad-hoc and coverage is incomplete. The records in this dataset were provided with four or six figure grid-references but these grid references refer to the approximate central location of sites and hence may not represent the actual location of the species occurrence. Temporal coverage: From 1853 to 2011. Records up to 1980s are generally to year only; after this time records are more usually to MM/YY or DD/MM/YYYY. Data quality: Records from 1980s and onwards have been checked and confirmed by a local expert; prior to this the records have been scrutinised and assisgned to taxons in line with recent taxomonic developments.