REAL Living Lab · ATU · DANÚ

Mother Nature's Biodiversity Heroes

One scoring system, every card. Rarity is read from the IUCN Red List, bioindicator value from documented sensitivity, and hero class from a fixed weighting of both plus ecological role. Hover a card to tilt it. The rarer the hero, the brighter it shines.

53Uncommon

NE Not Red-Listed Common in Ireland

The Firekeeper

King Alfred's Cakes · Daldinia concentrica

BIOINDICATOR45

Deadwood & decay habitat

Carried fire for thousands of years, made slowly in rings like a tree's years. Found mostly on the ash, which needs it now. Admire, and leave it be.

DECOMPOSERIUCN · GBIF/NBDC

65Notable

LC Least Concern Protected in Ireland

The Shapeshifter

Common Frog · Rana temporaria

BIOINDICATOR80

Freshwater & wetland health

From a dot of jelly to four legs in one spring. The EU GREEN winning image caught it mid-change, here in our own pond.

INDICATORIUCN · GBIF/NBDC

80Epic

NT Near Threatened Annex II/IV protected

Location protected

The Guardian

Eurasian Otter · Lutra lutra

BIOINDICATOR90

Clean water & healthy rivers

Lives only where the water runs clean. Found here, in the west. Her exact place is kept secret, always.

APEX INDICATORIUCN · GBIF/NBDC

How to read a card

The top-left number is the Hero Rating, a fixed weighted score: 30% ecological role, 25% bioindicator value, 20% rarity, 15% legacy, 10% sensitivity. It bands into a class from Common to Legendary, which sets how much the card shines. A common species with a vital role can still reach Epic, which is the point.

The coloured chip top-right is the species' IUCN Red List category, using the Red List's own colours from green for Least Concern through to red for Critically Endangered. The radar shows six axes at a glance: rarity, indicator value, role, sensitivity, range and legacy, so two cards are directly comparable. The bioindicator bar reports how strongly the species signals environmental health, and names what it indicates.

RAR RarityIND BioindicatorROLE Ecological roleSEN SensitivityRNG RangeLEG Legacy

Sources. Conservation status from the IUCN Red List and national Red Lists; occurrence from GBIF and the National Biodiversity Data Centre; indicator value from ecological literature. Hero Rating and class are computed, not assigned.