Pod schools have helped the BTO publish a scientific paper

The scientists at the British Trust for Ornithology have finished analysing the data from the first year of our citizen science campaign - What's Under Your Feet. The results have been published in the scientific journal, Science Direct. All schools that fed back data have been credited in the appendix of the paper.

A big thank you to all the students and teachers from across the UK that contributed to this important study.

Here are the main highlights
• A lack of information about soil invertebrates makes future projections difficult.
• UK soil macro-invertebrate abundance patterns were examined using citizen science.
• Soil invertebrate abundance varied with season and small-scale habitat factors.
• Earthworm abundance and biomass was positively correlated with soil moisture.
• There was little evidence that soil invertebrate abundance was affected by climate.

Read the full report here

More than 800 schools are taking part this year. Why not join them by carrying out an invertebrate survey in March, June and October. Find out more