IMPORTANT NOTES ON COLLECTING

The Micscape authors want you to enjoy and preserve your countryside - not destroy it or endanger yourself, so please read the guidance notes below!

We hope these guidance notes don't put you off, but many wildlife habitats are under enough threats already without an otherwise well meaning naturalist making it worse!

A microscopist only requires tiny amounts of a subject for study, and therefore with care should cause no threat to the organism or habitat. The watchwords are, use your common sense, and if in any doubt about sampling - don't!

If you are still at school, seek the advice and consent of an adult before collecting samples. Only take samples in the presence of an adult if possible.

In case it needs to be said, please don't endanger yourself, colleagues or property when collecting or walking in the countryside.

None of the articles in Micscape require or inadvertently suggest that you collect, trap or kill any animal, bird or invertebrate.

1. Make an effort to obtain and read the wildlife and countryside laws local to you. Most countries should have easy to read leaflets summarising their wildlife laws and lists of threatened fauna and flora.

   In the UK read:-
   'Wildlife the Law and You', Nature Conservancy Council and 'Out in the Country - where you can go and what you can do', Countryside Commission.
   Both or similar leaflets are often available at National Trust shops, County Wildlife Trust shops and local libraries.

2. Do not collect any specimens in designated nature reserves, national parks etc without first seeking the permission and guidance of the reserve manager. Only serious research workers need collect in such habitats.
3. If not a reserve, assess whether the plant of interest is very common or only exists in small numbers. If the population is small, don't take specimens. Also remember that a plant locally common to you, may be a national or even international rarity.

   Certain plants under particular threat or which receive undue attention, such as orchids should be left alone.

4. Uprooting any plant is totally unnecessary and likely to be illegal unless the land belongs to you.
5. Take the smallest amount of plant material necessary eg. a single flower head, seed head, small leaf or side shoot - but only if it is known to you to be a very common wild flower under no threat.
6. Take only one or two stems of a moss without uprooting the colony.
7. Lichens growing on rocks, walls, buildings, gravestones and similar substrates should not be removed - admire them in situ with a hand lens. They take years to grow and should be left for others to enjoy.
8. If you wish to look at lichens or mosses at home that grow on trees, find a small broken twig or piece of tree bark that has fallen off that has moss or lichen on.
9. Study invertebrates such as insects at the collecting site if possible and return it to it's exact habitat eg under a log after study.
10. Logs and other similar habitats disturbed to inspect for specimens should be carefully returned to their original position.

COLLECTING IN PONDS AND STREAMS
Collecting in ponds and streams requires particular care apart from the obvious warning of not falling in!

If you are still at school, seek the advice and consent of an adult before taking samples of aqueous habitats. Only take samples in the presence of an adult if possible.

1. Do not collect from aqueous habitats known or suspected to contain sewage or chemical effluent.
2. There are diseases and dangerous organisms that can be picked up either from handling water, or by accidental ingestion eg Weil's disease. Therefore please note the following:-
   • Use protective gloves if possible - it is essential if you have cuts, abrasions etc on your hands or arms.
   • Carry disinfectant wipes and use them to clean your hands after handling water.
   • Do not eat or drink while collecting.
   • Do not store the samples during transit or at home in areas likely to contaminate foodstuffs or drinks.
3. Study invertebrates at the site with a hand lens rather than taking them home. Plankton nets can concentrate large number of invertebrates - only take one smaller specimen home if is known to very common, and if practical return it to the site afterwards (alive).
4. Stones turned over in a stream to examine invertebrates should be replaced carefully afterwards.
5. Plankton nets and other nets can destroy a habitat if used indiscriminately, please use sparingly. One plankton sweeping from a given area of a freshwater habitat is all that is required.

We hope the above list hasn't scared you off, but many wildlife habitats are under enough threats already without an otherwise well meaning naturalist making it worse!

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The Micscape authors offer the above advice in good faith and welcome comments. However, the Micscape authors accept no responsibility for any event arising from country walks or collecting as a result of reading any of the Micscape articles.
Comments to: Dave Walker