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Key Sites

 

The Key Sites project aimed to develop an agreed set of national criteria which can be applied to determine key dragonfly and damselfly sites throughout Britain.

Key sites flowchart

Key Site Criteria

These key site criteria aim to determine sites important for maintaining breeding populations of nationally or locally important, or a high diversity of damselfly and dragonfly species. By being based on information readily gathered using the RA83 recording card, it was hoped that this would promote the recording of evidence of breeding and abundance of dragonfly species and contribute towards increasing monitoring of species and identification of key sites throughout the country.

What are Key Sites?

Key sites are those that have records from the last ten years of either important or of a wide range of species. The most important sites that we know hold large, confirmed breeding populations, these are recognised as 'Confirmed Key Sites'. Until we have better information and can confirm that species are successfully breeding, the site can be labelled as a 'Probable Key Site'. If there are only records of adults, with no evidence of breeding, the site is a 'Possible Key Site'. Therefore, recorders are encouraged to 'upgrade' a site's status by getting more detailed information on breeding and abundance. Both Confirmed and Probable key sites may be further split into Nationally Important, where the site contains an abundant breeding population of a nationally important species or Locally Important, where a site contains either an abundant breeding population of a locally, but not nationally, important species or a high diversity of species.

How to apply the criteria to your sites. 

What are the nationally important species?

The British Dragonfly Society has recently reviewed the British Red Data list for dragonflies and damselflies. Species that are considered to be threatened enough to be in one of the IUCN threat categories are regarded as nationally important. In addition, Small Red Damselfly, Ceriagrion tenellum, though not considered to be under threat, is included as a nationally important species, as it is nationally scarce (occurring in less than 100 10-km squares).

The following species are regarded as nationally important:   

Endangered  Southern Damselfly, Coenagrion mercuriale
  Northern Damselfly, Coenagrion hastulatum
  Norfolk Hawker, Aeshna isosceles
  White-faced Darter, Leucorrinhia dubia
   
Vulnerable   Azure Hawker, Aeshna caerulea 
  Brilliant Emerald, Somatochlora metallica
   
Near Threatened   Scarce Emerald Damselfly, Lestes dryas
  Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura pumilio
  Variable Damselfly, Coenagrion pulchellum 
  Northern Emerald, Somatochlora arctica
  Scarce Chaser, Libellula fulva
  Common Club-tail, Gomphus vulgatissimus
   
Nationally Scarce    Small Red Damselfly, Ceriagrion tenellum

 
 

What are the locally important species in your area?

Within the key site project the British Isles has been divided into 39 local areas. These areas, made up of one or more vice-counties, have been determined to relate to boundaries of local records centres or wildlife trusts. By dividing the country according to recording and conservation centres' boundaries it is hoped that this will allow the key site criteria to be more widely used. To find out which species are important, and what number of species is required for a diverse site in your local area, click on the appropriate area on the map. Information on how to get involved in recording dragonflies is also provided for each area.

Map of British Isles Cornwall Isles_of_Scilly Devon Somerset Wiltshire Dorset Hampshire Isle of Wight Sussex Kent Surrey Essex Hertfordshire Greater London Thames Valley and Buckinghamshire Suffolk Norfolk Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough Gloucestershire South-east Wales Herefordshire Worcestershire Warwickshire, Birmingham and Black Country Staffordshire Shropshire Powys and Brecon Beacons West wales North wales Lincolnshire Leicestershire and Rutland Nottinghamshire Derbyshire Cheshire Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire Yorkshire North East Cumbria Isle of Man Scotland Outer Hebrides Orkney Shetland Ireland Channel Isles

Adding or removing species determined as important in your area

The list of dragonfly and damselfly species within each area, aims to highlight which species are currently regarded as rare and important in your area, and so used to determine local key dragonfly sites. In drawing up this list advice from vice-county recorders, combined with analysis of the national dragonfly database (taking species occurring in less than 10% of tetrads within vice-counties as a guideline for local importance), have been used. However, with local knowledge and future dragonfly movements, this list may include or exclude species that you feel should be, or are no longer, important in your area. To keep the list up-to-date, or to correct or add links to dragonfly information in your area, please let Stephen Prentice, Dragonfly in Focus Officer know of any changes to these list of species or information, that you feel are required in your area.