Dragonflies atlas
The BRC Dragonflies atlas is full colour hardback book (approx. 290 pages) covering all of Britain and Ireland.
Dragonflies and damselflies are a remarkable group of insects. Although many of them are doing well, almost a third of British and Irish species are in decline and in need of conservation effort. So this comprehensive atlas is very timely. It shows the distribution and reviews the recent status of all 57 species of Britain and Ireland.
As well as summarising over 1 million dragonfly records, the Atlas includes the following special features.
- Species accounts, including maps, for all resident and immigrant species.
- Four pages devoted to each resident species.
- Sections on habitats, conservation, distribution changes and phenology.
- High quality colour photographs of all species and their habitats.
Dragonflies and damselflies rely on freshwater habitats to complete their life cycle. Thus they represent one of the best indicator groups to assess water quality. While single sightings may have limited value by themselves, in aggregate they can show trends. But these trends can be subtle, going undetected for many years. They can start with the loss of a particular species from some sites.
Altogether the dragonfly fauna of Britain and Ireland currently amounts to 57 species. Two of these 57 are probably now extinct in Britain. Overall this is only a small part of the worldwide fauna, with almost 6000 species currently known, and perhaps another 1500 awaiting formal description. Note that this atlas does not include Channel Islands, as biogeographically this region is closer to France.
The Dragonflies atlas was co-created with British Dragonfly Society and DragonflyIreland.
