The natural environment of the Loch Lomondside area,
Scotland is exceptionally well-studied. Here we describe
a project to catalogue publications that describe these
studies, and to form a living database of references. We
recorded 1,436 references from the mainstream
scientific literature and reports from the “grey
literature”. The taxonomic groups and habitats studied
were highly skewed. Faunal studies were considerably
commoner than those of flora; studies on vertebrate
species were commoner than those on invertebrate
species; fish and birds were more commonly studied
than other vertebrate groups. Reports of studies on
terrestrial ecosystems were more frequent than those on
aquatic systems. Amongst freshwater species, some
groups were very poorly represented (e.g. Rotifera,
Hydracarina, Diptera, Nematoda, Microturbellaria and
Tardigrada). Many studies have made very significant
contributions to understanding the mechanisms that
operate in the natural environment. The underlying
reasons for the important contributions that the Loch
Lomondside area has made to natural science are
discussed.
