Mapping Britain's mollusc fauna: history, development and personalities

The British Isles has perhaps the most comprehensively mapped land and freshwater mollusc fauna at a national level with a history extending back 120 years. This results from the insight, dedication and enthusiasm of a relatively small group of almost exclusively amateur malacologists. The national distribution atlases published in 1976 for the non-marine fauna (Kerney, 1976) and in 1982 for the marine fauna (Seaward, 1982) represent the culmination of their work. This paper focuses mainly on the characters contributing towards non-marine mapping until 1960 and their achievements, although the inception and development of the scheme is briefly discussed. A history of marine mollusc mapping in this country, the foundations for which were laid in the 1920s, is also given.