STAFFORDSHIRE INVERTEBRATE GROUP
(SIG)
Minutes of the 8th meeting of SIG held at 7.30
p.m. 01st October 2001 at Coutts House
Present: J Webb (Chair), D Skingsley (Secretary),
E Brown, J Stanney, T Beynon, R Tribbeck, M Smart, R Gillibrand
Apologies: C Slawson (Records Compiler), H Ball
(Site Co-ordinator), M Webb, T Colshaw, N Collingwood, M Waterhouse, S
McWilliams, M. Bloxham.
1) Minutes of the previous meeting
were presented and accepted as a true record of events
2) Matters arising from the previous minutes
-
A visit by JW has been arranged at the end of February 2001
to the Daltry Collection and a list of the number of specimens has been
provided by its curator Steve Lane
-
CS has yet to be reimbursed. A situation that is now urgent,
and which will be helped by the return of the original SIG passbook.
3) Record Compilers Report: A report was presented
on behalf of CS by JW. Briefly;
-
The number of records for invertebrates continues to increase
on the Staffordshire Ecological Record (SER) database. CS asked members
to submit records direct to SER rather than delay it through another layer
of record keeping. This was agreed unanimously by the meeting (proposed
MS seconded JS).
-
Involvement of SER and therefore SiG in the NBN gateway project
was now at the next stage and CS will tell us more about that in the future.
-
CS also asked members to use the Staffs
Invert Web Chat Room or it will be pulled.
4) Cotton Dell: A report was presented on behalf of
HB by DRS. Briefly:
-
HB requested that all outstanding records be sent to her
to finish the report on Cotton Dell by SiG for the SWT
-
Additional pasture is likely to become
accessible in 2002 and members might consider visiting this.
5) Election of Officers: The following were proposed
to stand until October 2003
-
CHAIR: no nominations received. JW stood down. Potential
candidates for this position need to contact the Secretary
before the next meeting (18th February)
-
SECRETARY: DRS nominated. Proposed by TB seconded
RT. Dave Skingsley duly elected until 2003
-
RECORDS OFFICER: CS nominated. Proposed DRS seconded
RT. Craig Slawson duly elected until 2003
-
RESERVES REPORT COMPILER: This office was no longer
seen as viable by the committee as records for all sites should now go
to CS. Records from sites visited by SiG will be discussed in committee
along the lines listed below in AOB. The discontinuation was supported
unanimously. Proposer JW seconded RG
6) SiG HOT SPOT 2002:
No consensus was reached as to which site(s) will be
targeted. There was much discussion, the outcome of which gave us some
criteria on which to base our focus in 2002
-
The site should not have been surveyed for invertebrates
in the previous 5-10 years or,
-
The site should be new to the Trust
Sites suggested include Newstead Common and Colwich Brickworks.
Members are asked to bring firmer suggestions to the February meeting.
Additionally there is a request that the selected sites should be split
up into ecological compartments to make it easier for the recorders to
link habitat with organism to a grid reference and thus to the management
plan for that site.
7) RECORDS:
-
With the demise of the reserves report compiler post, it
was proposed that all records go direct to SER (see above). Consequently
this frees up the committee to discuss species specific issues arising
from the wealth of records produced. There was much agreement around the
table for this proposal. It would enable SiG to highlight specific species
with distinct management requirements and thus enable us to inform SWT
about wider management issues for these organisms.
-
MS has paper/Pc records for Aqualate (and elsewhere) that
need to be put into County order before submission to CS
-
RT has a similar problem with his records fro Staffordshire
and the surrounding counties
AOB:
-
SiG should be involved in the national moth trapping event
to be held on June 15th 2002. TB suggested contacting Dave Emley
to be the resident expert on this day. The organisation/aquisition of a
moth trap for this event is to be investigated by JW
-
The updated Moth Atlas of Staffordshire, with colour plates,
is now available from the City Museum Hanley and the SWT. Price £10
plus £1-50 post and packing.
-
Aculeate hymenopteran checklist, sponsored by JCB and BENHS,
is nearing completion. Any remaining records to JW (and CS) so that the
information can be published on the web by Christmas 2002
-
DRS outlined the measures needed by SiG if it were to become
a fully fledged Special Interest Group of the SWT. Members felt it was
not the right time for this to happen, but did not discount this happening
in the future.
Date of next meeting FEBRUARY
18TH 2002 7.30 PM COUTTS HOUSE, SANDON