Introduction to Recording

Welcome!

This is what the Society is all about: recording the ever-changing flora of Sussex. Wherever you are, and whatever level of expertise you may have, everyone can help to record the plants they see when out and about. Don’t feel you need to record everything you see, and don’t feel that you only need to send records of ‘interesting’ plants. ALL plant records are welcome and necessary to build up a comprehensive picture of the distribution of species across the two counties.

You will notice that we refer not to ‘counties’ but ‘vice-counties’. This is because administrative county boundaries are prone to change.  Vice-county boundaries have been fixed since 1852, allowing biological recording to be compared across the decades. West Sussex is Vice-County 13, and East Sussex VC14.

Recording guidelines

This is the updated (2023) version of our detailed instructions on plant recording in Sussex. It includes links to useful presentations explaining how iRecord and our Excel Record Card work.

We are encouraging recorders to use iRecord to submit their records wherever possible. This reduces the considerable amount of processing work required before we can add records to our database. It also allows you to keep your own database of records, including photos, and provides you with a means of mapping them.

Each year we set up ‘Activities’ on iRecord which members can join and contribute their records to. These are in effect ‘recording groups’ for each county that allow you to see what other recorders have been up to, share photos and feel part of the community of botanists in Sussex. You can click on the links below to join, but ensure you are already logged into your iRecord account before you do so:

However, if you just want to use the iRecord app to submit a record of a single plant of Bellis perennis (Daisy), then that is absolutely fine.


Excel Record Card (ERC)

This is our legacy method for collating and sharing records. It is a ‘macro-enabled’ Excel file which allows species lists to be produced by selecting from a list and then saving in a standard format for submission to the recorders. Please read the instructions document carefully. In addition, there are very useful slides explaining how to use the ERC or iRecord for recording Sussex plants:

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must download and save the ERC locally on your computer and enable the use of macros in Excel for the ERC to work. The ERC will not work if you open it as a direct download.


Paper Recording Card

This is a paper recording card which adopts the format used for all vice-counties by the BSBI. It has been customised to apply to both East and West Sussex, but uses Stace 3 names.

Note that the correct printing of this document is very dependent on your printer and you may need to adjust your printer settings to get it to print properly. On some printers it may not be possible to get good results.


MapMate taxa list with BRC codes

An Excel file with a list of taxa and their associated BRC codes is available. Also in the list are vernacular (English) names, Brummit authorities and family names.


Stace 4 Changes

Members will notice that recording on the ERC and iRecord uses nomenclature from New Flora of the British Isles (Stace) 3rd edition. The latest edition of this reference work is the 4th edition (Stace 4) which was published in 2019. Whilst iRecord has introduced some of the changes from the latest edition, it is unlikely that we will do so for the ERC.


Sussex Archaeophytes

Here is a link to the Excel file with a list of Sussex archaeophytes . Archeophytes are plants that became established in an area before 1500.

Lists of all species recorded in West and East Sussex

Here are the species lists for each vice-county as of the beginning of 2023:

West Sussex (VC13)

East Sussex (VC14)

Each species is shown along with the number of times it was recorded before and after 2000. We are particularly keen to have records of species yet to be recorded this century!

If you are lucky enough to come across a species new to a vice-county it is very important to get confirmation from one of the BSBI recorders or a BSBI referee. Unless the plant is nationally rare or protected by law, a voucher specimen should be collected. Failing that, a series of photos showing the key identification details.