D7: Species supporting ecosystem functions

Short Description

All species have a functional role within ecosystems such as photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, nutrient cycling, predator-prey and symbiotic relationships such as pollination. Plants, fungi, algae, invertebrates and soil micro-organisms are particularly important. The presence, abundance and diversity of species are key factors in determining the resilience of ecosystems to environmental changes, including climate change and disease, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. Further research is required to develop this indicator, building on the existing UK pollinator indicator and defining species groups and functions for inclusion.

Readiness and links to data

This indicator is not available for reporting in 2023 in a finalised form. An interim indicator is presented here that shows trends in the distribution (occupancy of 1 km grid squares) of pollinators (bees and hoverflies) in the UK. These data are published annually as UK Biodiversity Indicator D1c – Status of pollinating insects and in the England biodiversity indicators. Significant further research and development is required to include a range of species groups important for supporting ecosystem functions in England.

Indicator components

Figure D7i: Change in the distribution of pollinators in the UK, 1980 to 2019

Source

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ENV09 - England biodiversity indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index (1980 = 100)

Footnotes

This composite measure of distribution includes 154 wild bee and 235 hoverfly species; the total number of species included in the index can vary between years and hence this indicator may not be directly comparable to those appearing in previous publications.

The shaded area on the graph represents the 90% credible interval (measure of uncertainty) for the unsmoothed index.

A new methodology was used in the 2023 update of this indicator. New methods were used to select species based on the suitability of the underlying data for producing occupancy trends with acceptable precision, and a novel statistical approach for combining species trends into a composite index was applied. These changes have caused the uncertainty estimation (90% credible interval) around the index to be smaller, and for the historic decline to be less severe.

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Table D7i: Change in the distribution of pollinators in the UK, 1980 to 2019

Year	90% credible interval lower bound	90% credible interval upper bound	Unsmoothed index
1980	100.00	100.00	100.00
1981	98.55	100.61	99.56
1982	98.23	100.88	99.54
1983	98.48	101.26	99.84
1984	99.41	102.12	100.74
1985	100.64	103.32	101.97
1986	101.78	104.59	103.16
1987	102.64	105.64	104.12
1988	101.76	104.77	103.27
1989	100.12	102.93	101.55
1990	98.33	101.41	99.86
1991	97.52	100.72	99.09
1992	97.82	100.71	99.25
1993	98.54	101.24	99.90
1994	99.26	102.13	100.68
1995	99.05	102.02	100.57
1996	98.28	101.16	99.67
1997	96.97	99.82	98.35
1998	95.74	98.46	97.04
1999	94.90	97.52	96.15
2000	94.07	96.60	95.35
2001	93.38	95.95	94.66
2002	93.20	95.76	94.47
2003	93.24	95.79	94.52
2004	93.04	95.56	94.33
2005	93.09	95.58	94.32
2006	92.97	95.56	94.26
2007	92.40	94.91	93.65
2008	91.67	94.12	92.86
2009	90.41	92.94	91.66
2010	88.67	91.11	89.89
2011	86.72	89.03	87.87
2012	84.89	87.29	86.09
2013	83.53	85.88	84.71
2014	82.42	84.65	83.55
2015	81.56	83.81	82.66
2016	80.54	82.88	81.70
2017	79.42	81.90	80.64
2018	78.41	81.03	79.69
2019	77.17	80.67	78.87

Source

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ENV09 - England biodiversity indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index (1980 = 100)

Footnotes

This composite measure of distribution includes 154 wild bee and 235 hoverfly species; the total number of species included in the index can vary between years and hence this indicator may not be directly comparable to those appearing in previous publications.

The shaded area on the graph represents the 90% credible interval (measure of uncertainty) for the unsmoothed index.

A new methodology was used in the 2023 update of this indicator. New methods were used to select species based on the suitability of the underlying data for producing occupancy trends with acceptable precision, and a novel statistical approach for combining species trends into a composite index was applied. These changes have caused the uncertainty estimation (90% credible interval) around the index to be smaller, and for the historic decline to be less severe.

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Trend description for D7i

There has been an overall decrease in the UK pollinators index since its peak in 1987 and in 2019, the index has declined by 24% compared to this peak and by 21% compared to its value in 1980.

Assessment of change

The indicator ‘Change in the distribution of pollinators in the UK’ is also reported in the England Biodiversity Indicators, which presents a short and long-term assessment for the same time periods used in this Outcome Indicator Framework assessment. These assessment results were reused here as the England Biodiversity Indicators method is more tailored to the specific dataset and factors-in information on confidence. The assessment found a decrease (deterioration) in the distribution of pollinators in the UK in the short and long-term time periods. No results are currently available for the medium-term assessment period using the England Biodiversity Indicators methodology, although this will be considered for future publications.

Change since 2018 has not been assessed for this indicator either as an assessment for this time period is not available using the England Biodiversity Indicators methodology.

Details on the England Biodiversity Indicators assessment methodology for this indicator can be found in section 10 of the latest England Biodiversity Indicators report. Further information on the standard assessment used in the Outcome Indicator Framework, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment background page. Summaries by 25 Year Environment Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Table D7i: Assessment of change

Component	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D7i	Short term	2014 to 2019	-5.60	Unsmoothed data	Deterioration
D7i	Medium term	N/A	N/A	N/A	Not assessed
D7i	Long term	1980 to 2019	-21.13	Unsmoothed data	Deterioration

Note that unsmoothed data presented in the indicator charts were used for percentage change calculations. Percentage change refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range.

Figure D7ii: Long-term and short-term changes in the distribution of individual pollinator species in the UK, 1980 to 2019

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ENV09 - England biodiversity indicators
Unit of Measurement: Percentage of species
Footnotes: Composite indices mask individual species trends therefore the bar chart shows the percentage of pollinator species within the indicator that have increased, decreased or shown little or no change in occupancy, based on set thresholds of change over the long term (since the time series began in 1980) and short term (latest 5 years of the time series).

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Table D7ii: Long-term and short-term changes in the distribution of individual pollinator species in the UK, 1980 to 2019

Time period	Little or no change	Strong decline	Strong increase	Weak decline	Weak increase
Long term (1980–2019)	42	20	8	23	8
Short term (2014–2019)	25	33	17	15	10

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ENV09 - England biodiversity indicators
Unit of Measurement: Percentage of species
Footnotes: Composite indices mask individual species trends therefore the bar chart shows the percentage of pollinator species within the indicator that have increased, decreased or shown little or no change in occupancy, based on set thresholds of change over the long term (since the time series began in 1980) and short term (latest 5 years of the time series).

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Trend description for D7ii

The overall declines shown in D7i mask the trends of the individual species within the index, 43% of which have become less widespread, 16% of which have become more widespread and 42% of which have shown little or no change since the index began in 1980. Over the short term (between 2014 and 2019), 48% of species have become less widespread, 27% have become less widespread and 25% have shown little or no change.

Assessment of change

Indicator Metadata

Headline indicator status: Nature on land and water
Primary goal in the 25 Year Environment Plan: Thriving plants and wildlife
Relevant goal(s) in the 25 Year Environment Plan: Thriving plants and wildlife
Relevant target(s) in the 25 Year Environment Plan: Taking action to recover threatened, iconic or economically important species of animals, plants and fungi, and where possible to prevent human induced extinction or loss of known threatened species in England and the Overseas Territories
Position in the natural capital framework: Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related reporting commitments: Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi Targets 7 and 8; May provide evidence in support of Climate Change Risk Assessment under the Climate Change Act (2008)
Geographical Scope: England. The interim indicator is only available for the UK.
Status of indicator development: Interim
First Reported: 2019
Last Updated: 2023
Latest Data: 2019