Guidance on the monograph

CC image by Nic McPhee

This part of the assignment requires you to be succinct: you've got to squash everything you want to say into 500 words, so there's no room for waffling. You have to give a list of references too (not included in the 500 words, fortunately) so do try to pick sources that sound authoritive and not just some dodgy page off the internet, unless it's something like the British Bryological Society's website. It may not hurt to put in the details of the undoubtedly reputable keys you were using to make your identifications.

As you're presenting a taxonomic collection, the most important thing to focus on is some taxonomic information. The Guidance suggests - how many families / species are in your group in the UK, and how many are in your collection? What are the key diagnostic features of your group / each family represented? Are there any rare / interesting specimens in your collection?

The Guidance also suggests you can make remarks about the ecology or human uses of your group, but not to make that the main focus of what you write. So I guess this includes interesting things like: the habitats where they're found; the variations of their 'form and function'; any economic, social or cultural importance; any particular existential threats they face.


Most people seem to leave this part of the assessment until last - and perhaps that's very sensible, as by then you are more familiar with your group. But you probably don't want to leave it until the extreme last minute as it's actually quite difficult to be succinct, and you'll probably have to spend some time editing and moving around your thoughts to make them readable. Ultimately it's a daft thing not to spend some time on this because 500 words isn't a big deal, but it can earn you up to 15 relatively easy marks. That's 15% and the difference between a high 2:2 and a first. Ok - realistically, if you haven't been arsed with doing anything much up until now, it's unlikely to make that level of difference, but making effort here could help tip you into the next bracket of marks.