| CONSERVATION |
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A JNCC press release (24th April, 2001), referring to a new report
published by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology &
Hydrology & the Joint Nature Conservation Committee highlights the
decline in Britain's native butterflies.
The main causes of the decline include destruction of butterfly
habitat, changing land management practices & the fragmentation of
their habitats. The latter is of greatest concern for those species
which disperse over only short distances.
Butterflies are extremely sensitive to their environment, on which
they depend, so they are excellent indicators of the health of the
countryside.
There are many things we can do as individuals to help. For
example, leave a corner of your garden to grow wild with uncut grass;
you can plant food plants for the larvae of our native butterflies &
moths; you can plant nectaring plants to provide food for the adults.
You can volunteer as a helper with your local Butterfly
Conservation Branch when they hold work parties at their reserves.
The Regional Action Plan (RAP) identifies 15 high priority
butterflies, of which 13 occur in Hampshire & the Isle of Wight:
- Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus)
- Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulae)
- Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina)
- Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia)
- Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae)
- High Brown Fritillary (Argynnis adippe)
- Marsh Fritillary (Eurodryas aurinia)
- Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne)
- Purple Emperor (Apatura iris)
- Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma)
- Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus)
- Small Blue (Cupido minimus)
- Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene)
The 6 medium priority butterflies identified are:
- Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra coridon)
- Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages)
- Grayling (Hipparchia semele)
- Wall (Lasiommata megera)
- White Admiral (Ladoga camilla)
- White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium W-album)
The Regional Action Plan (RAP) currently identifies 37 macro-moths
as high priority species. They are:
- Argent & Sable (Rheumamptera hastate)
- Barberry Carpet (Pareulype berberata)
- Barred Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx polycommata)
- Beautiful Gothic (Leuchoclaena oditis)
- Blair's Wainscot (Sedina buettneri)
- Bordered Gothic (Heliophobus reticulate)
- Brighton Wainscot (Oria musculosa)
- Buttoned Snout (Hypena rostralis)
- Chalk Carpet (Scotopteryx bipunctaria)
- Common Fan-foot (Pechipogo strigilata)
- Dark Crimson Underwing (Catocala sponsa)
- Dingy mocha (Cyclophora pendularia)
- Double Line (Mythimna turca)
- Drab Looper (Minoa murinata)
- Heart Moth (Dicycla oo)
- Light Crimson Underwing (Catocala promissa)
- Lunar Yellow Underwing (Noctua orbona)
- Marbled Clover (Heliothis viriplaca)
- Morris's Wainscot (Photedes morrisii)
- Narrow-bordered Bee hawk (Hemaris tityus)
- Olive Crescent (Trisateles emortualis)
- Orange Upperwing (Jodia croceago)
- Pale Shining Brown (Polia bombycina)
- Portland Ribbon Wave (Idaea degeneraria)
- Reddish Buff (Acosmetia caliginosa)
- Reed Leopard (Phragmataecia castaneae)
- Scarce Merveille du Jour (Moma alpium)
- Shoulder-striped Clover (Heliothis maritima warnecki)
- Southern Chestnut (Agrochola haematidea)
- Speckled Footman (Coscinia cribraria bivittata)
- Square-spotted Clay (Xestia rhomboidea)
- Striped Lychnis (Shargacucculia lychnitis)
- The Four-spotted (Tyta luctuosa)
- The Triangle (Heterogenea asella)
- White Spot (Hadena albimacula)
- White-line Snout (Schrankia taenialis)
- White-spotted Pinion (Cosmia diffinis)
There are 96 medium priority macro-moths.
Based upon national criteria & definitions, this document sets out
conservation actions & targets for butterflies, moths & their habitats
in South-Central England (Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight &
Wiltshire) for the period 2000 - 2010. The intent is to arrest the
decline of all butterfly & moth species with special emphasis on the
15 high & 6 medium priority species of butterfly & the 37 high & 96
medium priority species of macro-moths. The plan aims:
- To seek opportunities to extend the breeding areas and their
connectivity for the high & medium priority species; in essence, to
build larger blocks of appropriately managed landscape.
- Where ecological knowledge is inadequate for a species then
undertake research to rectify this & publish the findings.
- To seek collaboration with partners & to provide realistic
management advice to land managers & owners.
- Where appropriate, consider possible acquisition of sites as
nature reserves or, alternatively, set up management agreements with
the present land owners.
- Where there is no prospect of recolonisation within their former
range then to consider re-establishment of key species.
- Through education & publicity to increase the public awareness
of the plight of lepidoptera & their habitats & the work of
Butterfly Conservation.
Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) are being prepared at national
level, county level & local authority level since the signing of the
Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit in 1992.
Scientific research has established that increasing biological
diversity in any one geographical area not only increases its
production capability but its resilience to environmental change as
well. These action plans will address all species & habitats found
within the relevant areas.
Butterfly Conservation's South-Central Regional Action Plan (covers
Hants, IOW, Dorset & Wilts) is complementary to the BAPs insofar as it
identifies priority species and addresses the particular issues
concerned with our lepidoptera & their habitats.
Currently (late 2001), the Hampshire BAP (Vol.2) is well advanced
and the second tranche of the Isle of Wight BAP is being progressed.
The Hampshire & IOW Branch of Butterfly Conservation is fully involved
and an active member of the BAP partnership. The relevant departments
in both councils issue regular newsletters stating the current state
of progress in their plans.
Mr. Andrew Brookes has written a report on the research he
has conducted into "AN EVALUATION OF DISEASE - RESISTANT HYBRID
& EXOTIC ELMS as Larval Host Plants for the White-letter
Hairstreak Satyrium w-album". This report is a systematic
evaluation of many of the modern disease resistant elm tree (Ulmus)
species and hybrids which are highly resistant to Dutch Elm
Disease caused by the Ophiostoma novo-ulmi fungus. Over 25
million elms, mostly English Elm (Ulmus procera) and Wych Elm (Ulmus
glabra), have been killed in the UK by Dutch Elm Disease in
recent decades. This devastation has inevitably had an adverse
effect on many elm-dependent species such as the White-letter
Hairstreak butterfly (Satyrium w-album). The report identifies
viable resistant elm tree alternatives, such as the
immune LUTECE (TM) hybrid and the elm bark beetle-repellent
White Elm (Ulmus laevis), which can help to safeguard the future
of the White-letter Hairstreak.
- March 2006 -
Elm
Report (10 MB, PDF file). WARNING! This is a very large file,
so you may want to "right-click", select "Save Target As ..." and
save it to your local disk.
If you do not have a PDF file reader, then click this image for a
free download:
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