Review by Jon Webb, Invertebrate Biologist, English Nature

This report consists of three main sections; an introduction; a summary table and the species list. The introduction sets out the background to the list but also gives a flavour as to how the author sees the document being used. Keith states that one of its functions is to create more information, by acting as a baseline for future developments. In the spirit of co-operation it is hoped that such a database can be added to and amended as more information is gathered. 

There follows a summary table listing all the taxonomic groups covered in the report. Overall, nearly 1800 species of invertebrates recorded in Britain are known to be dependant on living and decaying timber. This is a huge biodiversity resource, especially when you take into account the rarity of a number of these species (over 50% of rare beetles are dependant on decaying timber).

The third section is the largest. It sets out in taxonomic order, all those invertebrates with known (and sometimes suspected) dependency on timber. For some species quite a lot is known about their biology, for others it can be seen that we know little or nothing apart from the fact that in many cases the animal in question has only been recorded from timber. 

Like all good data sets this document took along time to produce. Keith has been collecting information about timber-associated invertebrates for a number of years and this wealth of information has now been bound into this report.

This document is more than a list of species associated with timber; it is a veritable compendium of information about one of our most important invertebrate faunas in Britain and Ireland.

Copies are available free from English Nature at Northminster House, Peterborough PE1 1UA"