The Holy Loch nature reserve - Biodiversity research
Just how many species use Holy Loch Nature Reserve is still unclear in the fourth year of recording; we have now recorded 3331 species.74% are invertebrates, 70% are insects and 35% are species of fly. 30% are species unknown to science and can only be identified via their unique DNA barcode. New insects are being trapped every month, even in the fourth year. The majority of species are very rare in the data set. Hundreds of species have not been recorded in the UK before, even more are unrecorded in Scotland.Once soil DNA analysis starts in June 2026, those numbers will jump dramatically with soil dwelling worms and fungi. Complex predictive statistics suggest the species list could peak at around 7000. That's the #HLNR target!The database is huge and growing, Holy Loch Nature Reserve has the highest known biodiversity of any small nature reserve in Scotland. FULL STOP.
https://hlnr.org.uk/