The state of pan-species listing at the end of 2017

Time for my annual post of how things are going in the PSL community. We didn't have a field meeting in 2017, the first year since we started having field meetings in 2012 but it looks like the Cornwall one planned this year by Sally Luker is going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you then. I will be going whatever this time having not made one for some time. 

The 1000 species challenge was also a great boost for pan-species listing, we raised over a £1000 for our Trust. I'm also hoping that listing the whole Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve network will encourage other conservation organisations to do the same thing. So who is going to have a go next? Could the National Trust beat the RSPB's 16000+?

First up, what's happening in the top ten. 

			2016		2017	Change
1		Jonty Denton	12399		12483	84
2		Dave Gibbs	11327		11327	0
3		Mark Telfer	7478		7603	125
4		Nicola Bacciu	6515		7045	530
5		Brian Eversham	6650		7030	380
6		The late Eric Philp	6878		6878	0
7		Graeme Lyons	6515		6840	325
8		Simon Davey	6722		6722	0
9		Matt Prince	6142		6483	341
10		Richard Comont	5919		6362	545

First up it looks like Jonty and Mark have slowed down a little. Dave Gibbs hasn't updated his totals in over a year and neither has Simon. Richard Comont has entered the top ten (with the highest increase in the top ten over the period) and Malcolm Storey has departed. Nicola continues to shoot up the rankings as the highest female lister. I've over taken Simon Davey making me the top Sussex lister.

Now for the 100th lister. In 2015 it was Rowan Alder on 903 species, last year it was Adam Harley on 1183 and this year it's Stephen O'Donnell (someone else who hasn't updated for over two years) on 1371. That means that everyone in the top 100 has now seen 1371 species. Pretty impressive!

The youngest lister is now only nine! The oldest is 73. There are 219 people on the rankings (up from 192 last year) and 464 users on the website (up from 300). There are 356 members on the Facebook page (up from 288).

Now for the site rankings (changes in bold).

			2016		2017
1		Wicken Fen	8674	Wicken Fen	8674
2		Esher Commons	7945	Esher Commons	7945
3		RSPB Minsmere	5928	RSPB Minsmere	5928
4		Thorn Moors	5052	Thorn Moors	5052
5		RSPB Abernethy	4735	RSPB Abernethy	4735
6		RSPB The Lodge	4290	SWT Rye Harbour	4324
7		SWT Rye Harbour	4274	RSPB The Lodge	4290
8		Hatfield Forest	4184	Hatfield Forest	4184
9		SWT Ebernoe Common	3708	SWT Ebernoe Common	3900
10		Northwich Community Woodlands	3118	Sutton Fen	3708

So nothing has changed in the top five. As predicted, Rye Harbour has over taken the Lodge into 6th place. Sutton Fen has joined the top ten ranks and then Ebernoe Common has replaced it. This has pushed Northwich Community Woodlands out of the top ten. There are 63 locations on the rankings (something I didn't note down the last couple of years).

Now for the top taxa listers (again changes in bold).

				2016		2017
Algae		Jony Denton		288		288
Slime Moulds		Malcolm Storey		51		51
Protists		Jony Denton		24		24
Lichens		Simon Davey		1228		1228
Fungi		Malcom Storey		1391		1391
Bryophytes		Paul Bowyer		480		503
Vascular Plants		John Martin		2278		2292
Sponges		Richard Comont		12		12
Comb-jellies		Lee Johnson		3		3
Cnidarians		Richard Comont		44		45
Molluscs		Richard Comont		222		224
Bryozoans		Richard Comont		27		30
Annelids		Richard Comont		51		55
Platyhelminth worms		Brian Eversham		18		18
Sea-spiders		Richard Comont		4		4
Arachnids		Jonty Denton		493		499
Myriapods		Keith Lugg		77		81
Crustaceans		Richard Comont		99		100
Springtails		Richard Comont		44		45
3-tailed Bristletails		Mark Telfer		8		8
Odonata		Mark Telfer, Dave Gibbs		48		48
Orthopteroids		Mark Telfer		41		41
Hemipteroids		Jonty Denton		861		875
Hymenoptera		Dave Gibbs		809		809
Coleoptera		Mark Telfer		2632		2739
Diptera		Dave Gibbs		3146		3146
Butterflies		Seth Gibson, Stuart Read		62		62
Moths		Tony Davis		1628		1635
Remaining small		Jonty Denton		195
						195
Echinoderms		Richard Comont		19		20
Tunicates		Richard Comont		22		24
Fish		Richard Comont		97		98
Reptiles		Richard Comont		9		10
Amphibians		Jonty Denton		13		13
Birds		Dave Gibbs		527		527
Mammals		Mark Telfer		64		64
Other animals		Jonty Denton		36		36

Paul Bowyer has set a new record for bryophytes in only around three years, this is really impressive. Mark's added over a 100 beetles. Richard's somehow managed 10 reptiles. I'm still not top lister for anything.

So there we are, lots of new records being made and some interesting changes in the top ten. Maybe next year I will open it up to the top 20, what do you think? Oh and I hope 2018 is an awesome listing year.