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Flower-Insect Timed Count data from the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, 2017-2023

Publisher
Environmental Information Data Centre
Updated
30 July 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

This dataset contains information on the location of the count, some environmental variables, and the number of insects of each type counted for the Flower-Insect Timed Count survey as part of the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS). It covers the years 2017 to 2023 (note that 2017 was a pilot year and has less data than subsequent years). The "public" FIT Count asks volunteer citizen scientists to count the number of insects, identified into broad taxon groups, seen landing on the flowers of a particular target plant within a 50 cm × 50 cm quadrat during a period of ten minutes. The "1 km square" FIT Count uses the same methodology but is carried out by PoMS volunteers and staff as part of the PoMS 1 km square survey, which takes place within a randomly allocated set of 1 km squares across the UK, and also gathers data on pan-trapped insects (see separate dataset). In 2017-2020 the 1 km square survey took place in England, Scotland and Wales only; from 2021 the survey has full UK coverage, but with limited data from Northern Ireland in 2021 which was a pilot year for that country. UK PoMS is co-ordinated by UKCEH, with the following delivery partners up to 2023: the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, British Trust for Ornithology, Buglife, Hymettus, Natural History Museum, the University of Reading and University of Leeds. PoMS Steering Group members up to 2023 were JNCC, DAERA, Defra, NatureScot, Welsh Government, All-Ireland Pollinators Plan, Natural England, Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, and National Biodiversity Network. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d706088c-9d48-4be5-b156-6ed6ad5e0618

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
Supporting information ZIP 30/7/2026
Download the data 30/7/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
25 July 2026
Harvest GUID
d706088c-9d48-4be5-b156-6ed6ad5e0618
Extent (Latitude)
60.861° to 49.864°
Extent (Longitude)
-8.648° to 1.768°
Dataset reference date (publication)
2026-06-03
Dataset reference date (creation)
2026-03-09
Access constraints
The following acknowledgement is required for use of this dataset: The UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (UK PoMS) is a partnership funded jointly by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) (through funding from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland). UKCEH's contribution is part-funded by the Natural Environment Research Council formerly as part of the UK-SCAPE programme (award NE/R016429/1) and now as part of the NC-UK programme (award NE/Y006208/1) delivering National Capability. Between 2017 and 2021, PoMS was funded by UKCEH and Defra (England), Welsh Government, Scottish Government, DAERA (Northern Ireland), and JNCC. PoMS is indebted to the many volunteers who carry out surveys and contribute data to the scheme.
Responsible party
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (author); (pointOfContact, publisher, owner, custodian)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng