Reported condition

ISIS Compliance

The Specific Assemblage Types (SATs) used in Pantheon have been taken from ISIS (Invertebrate Species Information System). The quality of any assemblage type can be measured by the number of the specialist species that occur within it.

As an example, the Sphagnum Bog assemblage has been identified within the sample. A benchmark score of the presence of nine of any of these specialist species (out of a total of 111) is required for it to be favourable, otherwise it returns a condition of unfavourable.

However, the level of confidence in the reported condition is determined by the method(s) used to collect the sample data. There are three categories:

• ISIS compliant - data from standardised trapping regime, time limited within prescribed areas. Can include pitfall trapping, vane trapping, malaise trap deployment, timed sweeping, timed vacuum sampling, timed hand searching. A sample is fully ISIS compliant if all of its data are gathered this way.
• Semi-ISIS compliant - as above, but with the addition of more freeform sampling data added in. This might typically include hunting for aculeates over flowers, trapping flies coming to carrion, all in an unstructured fashion. Implicit in this is that the ISIS-compliant data should form the bulk of the sample, with the freeform making up the rest.
• Non-compliant - sample data gained from entirely unstructured and open-ended collecting, or from data downloads across space and time. Implicit in this dataset is a complete lack of certainty over trapping effort,  or possible methods used, and it may or may not span over time.

Confidence in a favourable condition is:

• High for ISIS compliant samples
• Medium for semi-ISIS compliant samples
• Low for non-compliant samples