Half a Million Visits a Year: Our Regional Atlases Reach an International Audience

The numbers are now in! Our regional atlases of BC's flora and fauna--E-Flora BC and E-Fauna BC--are now drawing more than half a million visits a year!  Most of our visitors are from Canada, and the US, but there are many other countries represented. Many visitors are accessing the home page and searching for species information from there (~300,000) but a large number go directly to a species atlas page (400,000).   Based on the comments and inquiries we receive, our users include researchers, schools/students, government, conservation groups, and the general public.

The most popular group in the atlases?  Spiders!  The interest in spiders is high and everyone wants to know about Brown Recluse spiders (not found in BC), Black Widow Spiders and the Giant House Spider.  But, based on feedback, visitors are also keen on freshwater crustaceans, big furry wildlife (bears, wolves and cougars), and marine invertebrates (shorelines and tidal pool creataures).  In the plant world, listed species and invasive species are the big attractors. The photo galleries on both sites are heavily used by visitors aiming to identify what they've found.

Our blog is drawing a lot of interest, too, with up to 3000 visitors per month.  The most popular blog posts are, of course, spiders.  Robb Bennett's insights into our BC spiders are always a hit, but Tom Carefoot's blog posts on 'things marine' attract lots of visitors too. There is also a lot of interest in Ian Gardiner's finds in freshwater lakes in BC: the fairy shrimp, brine shrimp and water fleas. 

Interesting Facts:

The highest number of visitors to our blog in one day?  3897.

Most commonly used browser?  Firefox, followed by Chrome. The use of mobile devices and associated browsers is growing and now representing 10% of our visitors consistently.

Most frequently used search word?  Spiders and Brown Recluse Spiders.

Top Ten Countries Accessing the sites, in descending order: Canada, US, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Latvia, UK, Poland.

Operating systems used, in descending order: Windows (59%), Macintosh (15%), iPhone (10%), iPad (4%), iPod (1%).