Wicken Fen set for wildlife first on the web

Britain's best documented and most species-rich nature reserve, Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, has published an online archive of 56,000 records dating back to the 1820s.

The archive includes records of more than 7,400 different species [1] over a 180 year period and this is the most comprehensive collection of natural history information for a single site.

Developed by the National Biodiversity Network, the archive will enable wildlife enthusiasts to access maps and records about Wicken Fen at the click of a mouse.

Stuart Warrington, National Trust Regional Nature Conservation Advisor, said: "Wicken Fen is steeped in natural history with more than 170 years of records from academic experts and gifted amateurs who have visited this special place.

"Anyone fascinated with wildlife will be able to search this superb and unique archive from the most species-rich single nature reserve known in Britain and travel back through time to witness the work of generations of passionate naturalists."

Wicken Fen became the first nature reserve to be owned by the National Trust when it was bought by the charity in 1899. It is one of only four nature reserves in the fens that have retained their original deep peaty soils and fen habitats.

The core fen nature reserve of 255 hectares (630 acres) has the highest designations, both national and international, for wildlife conservation and protection [2].

In the last decade, as part of the Wicken Fen Vision project, the National Trust has increased its land ownership at Wicken Fen and now 758 hectares (1,873 acres) are managed as a nature reserve for wildlife and people.

The National Trust has been working closely with the National Biodiversity Network to help make this wealth of wildlife information collected over the last 180 years available to all via the NBN Gateway [3].

The most diverse group of species is not the plants or birds, but the invertebrates and especially the insects. Three groups of insects each have over 1000 species, the flies (1,893 species), the beetles (1,527 species) and the moths (1,083 species).
These three groups alone make up more than 56 per cent of all the species found at Wicken Fen. When all of the records from Wicken Fen have been added, and once classifications are complete, this will take the total number of species found here to more than 8,100 species.

Stuart Warrington added: "Just a short distance from Cambridge, Wicken Fen has a prodigious list of rare species from plants such as the Great Fen Sedge, Fen Violet and Whorled Water-Milfoil to birds including the Marsh Harrier and Cuckoo. Perhaps even more impressive is that there are over 600 insect species at Wicken that are listed as nationally endangered, rare or scarce in the UK Red Data Books."

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For further press information and images please contact:
Mike Collins, Senior Press Officer, on 01793 817708, 07900 138419 or mike.collins@nationaltrust.org.uk
Howard Cooper, Communications Officer, Wicken Fen, on 01353 720274, 07826 874133 or howard.cooper@nationaltrust.org.uk
Mandy Henshall, National Biodiversity Network Communications Officer, on 0115 959 6435 or m.henshall@nbn.org.uk

Notes to Editors:
[1] This vast archive of natural history records at Wicken Fen can be seen by visiting www.wicken.org.uk and clicking on the link to 'see our Wicken Fen species data.' There will be access to more than 56,000 records of 7,438 species including plants, lichens, mammals, moths, beetles, bugs, molluscs, crustaceans and many other groups. The total will rise to 8,100 species when records for fungi and parasitic wasps are added to the website in 2010. The earliest published records for wildlife at Wicken Fen are 1833 for a plant, the unusual Water Soldier, and 1829 for an animal, a water beetle.
[2] Wicken Fen is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a National Nature Reserve, a Special Area for Conservation and an international Ramsar Wetland.
[3] The Gateway is a web site that allows species information to be displayed on maps and in tables and downloaded on to computers.

Species found at Wicken Fen: