Thomas Merckx's Publications List

A Global Perspective on Conserving Butterflies and Moths and their Habitats

2011-09-01T11:02:38Z

T Merckx, B Huertas, Y Basset, J A Thomas (Submitted) Key Topics in Conservation Biology - Volume 2

Habitat fragmentation impacts mobility in a common and widespread woodland butterfly: do sexes respond differently?

2012-01-17T11:11:59Z

Bergerot B, Merckx T, Van Dyck H, Baguette M (Submitted) BMC ECOLOGY :

Local and landscape-scale management affect Odonata assemblages on farmland

2011-08-10T10:09:08Z

E M Raebel, T Merckx, R E Feber, P Riordan, D J Thompson, D W Macdonald (Submitted) AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT :

Landscape-scale conservation of farmland moth populations

2011-09-01T11:06:22Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (Submitted) Wildlife Conservation on Farmland

The impacts of woodland management on moths

2011-09-25T12:07:27Z

(Submitted) DEFRA (UK), Forestry Commission (UK), Butterfly Conservation, WildCRU

Mitigation of macro-moth declines due to landscape-scale agricultural intensification

2011-12-21T11:08:07Z

T Merckx, L Marini, R E Feber, D W Macdonald (Submitted) JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY :

Conserving threatened Lepidoptera: towards an effective woodland management policy in landscapes under intense human land-use

2011-12-21T11:07:24Z

T Merckx, R E Feber, D Hoare, M S Parsons, C Kelly, N A D Bourn & D W Macdonald (Submitted) BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION :

Understanding the role of woodland management in the conservation of UK BAP moths

2011-09-25T12:13:35Z

T Merckx (Submitted) DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK) & FC (Forestry Commission, UK)

Identifying high-quality pond habitats for Odonata in lowland England: implications for agri-environment schemes

2011-11-11T22:11:59Z

1. Agricultural intensification has contributed to severe declines in odonate (dragonfly and damselfly) populations. The objective of our study is to benefit current measures for the conservation of odonates by establishing the conditions favourable to Odonata and focusing on ponds within agricultural land. 2. Our landscape-scale study used exuvial counts and habitat measurements from 29 po...

EM Raebel, T Merckx, RE Feber, P Riordan, DW Macdonald, DJ Thompson (2012) INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY :

Brown Hairstreak habitat requirements. Opportunities for a threatened butterfly in an agricultural landscape [Welke eisen stelt de Sleedoornpage aan haar habitat? Kansen voor een bedreigde dagvlinder in een landbouwlandschap]

2011-05-06T11:00:52Z

Agricultural intensification is the main driver of global biodiversity loss. Agri-environment schemes are policy tools to counter this loss, but they need to be made more effective. We focused on the resource quality of hedgerows and woodland edges, which are widespread elements of many agricultural landscapes in Flanders and Europe. We analysed a set of structural factors and assessed their relat...

Berwaerts K & Merckx T (2011) NATUUR.FOCUS 10: 11-18

Coppicing and woodland ride management effects on UK BAP moths

2011-03-22T12:05:36Z

Merckx T (2011) Lepidoptera Conservation Bulletin Number 11: April 2010 – March 2011 47-48,

Woodland management and rapidly-declining moths

2011-08-11T12:03:09Z

Merckx T (2011) Moths Count Newsletter Butterfly Conservation p.12

Shelter benefits less mobile moth species: the field-scale effect of hedgerow trees

2011-02-16T15:17:46Z

Agri-environment schemes are the main policy instruments for reversing declines in farmland biodiversity, but there is scope for improvement. Within an intensive agricultural landscape, a mark-release-recapture experiment was used to investigate the relative effects on the number of adults of 23 moth species of two landscape features (wide field margins and hedgerow trees) that may feature within ...

T Merckx, RE Feber, C Mclaughlan, NAD Bourn, MS Parsons, MC Townsend, P Riordan, DW Macdonald (2010) AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT 138: 147-151

The Use of Geometric Morphometrics in Studying Butterfly Wings in an Evolutionary Ecological Context

2011-03-22T12:04:12Z

Using geometric morphometrics to investigate spatio-temporal wing shape variation due to adaptive environmental regulation of wing development under different ecological conditions. In order to quantify shape variation, many powerful, free, easy-to-use and dedicated software packages have been developed that quickly digitize and/or analyse landmark data (e.g. the tps suite by Rohlf, http://life...

C J Breuker, M Gibbs, S Van Dongen, T Merckx & H Van Dyck (2010) Morphometrics for Nonmorphometricians 271-287,

Habitat preference and mobility of Polia bombycina: are non-tailored agri-environment schemes any good for a rare and localised species?

2010-08-31T14:11:08Z

General agri-environment schemes (AES) have been shown to benefit widespread species, but there is little information on the extent to which rare, more localised, species may also benefit. We tested whether AES options aimed at increasing general biodiversity also benefit a highly endangered moth, Polia bombycina, without species-specific tailoring. We assessed effects on its abundance of two AES...

T Merckx, RE Feber, MS Parsons, NAD Bourn, MC Townsend, P Riordan, DW Macdonald (2010) JOURNAL OF INSECT CONSERVATION 14: 499-510

What type of hedgerows do Brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae L.) butterflies prefer? Implications for European agricultural landscape conservation

2011-02-16T15:15:32Z

1. Agricultural intensification is the main driver of global biodiversity loss. Agri-environment schemes (AES) are policy tools to counter this, but they need to be made more effective. 2. Here, we focus on the resource quality of hedgerows and woodland edges, which are widespread elements of most agricultural landscapes in Europe. We analyse a set of structural factors and assess their relative ...

Merckx T, Berwaerts K (2010) INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY 3: 194-204

The Dragonfly Delusion: why it is essential to sample exuviae to avoid biased surveys

2010-09-02T11:30:07Z

Odonate populations and species numbers are declining globally. Successful conservation requires sound assessments of both odonate distributions and habitat requirements. Odonates have aquatic (larval) and terrestrial (adult) stages, but most surveys that are used to inform conservation managers are undertaken of the adult stage. This study investigates whether this bias towards adult records in o...

EM Raebel, T Merckx, P Riordan, DW Macdonald, DJ Thompson (2010) JOURNAL OF INSECT CONSERVATION 14: 523-533

More Trees Please!

2009-04-17T10:22:57Z

A new study from Oxford University says that hedgerow trees are the best hope to boost farmland wildlife. Featuring news of a report from Oxford University that suggests hedgerow trees may be the secret to the rejuvenation of our wildlife. They used to be planted as shelter for livestock or for use as timber but very few large trees have been planted on farmland in the past century. As old tree...

T Merckx (2009) Farming Today - Radio 4

BBC South Today - BBC Oxford News

2009-04-10T13:16:00Z

Interview with Dr Thomas Merckx of Oxford's Department of Zoology about research that suggests farmers should be paid to plant more hedgerow trees to boost biodiversity. The research studied larger moths, a key indicator of biodiversity, in farms around Oxfordshire.

T Merckx (2009) BBC 1

Hedgerow trees ‘key to UK biodiversity’

2009-04-08T15:11:12Z

Paying farmers to protect and establish more hedgerow trees could be crucial to halting the decline in biodiversity in the British landscape, Oxford University scientists have found.

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) Press Office University of Oxford

Agri-environment schemes: call for more landscape connectivity

2009-09-19T09:51:10Z

A popular way to improve biodiversity is to provide financial rewards for environmentally friendly methods of managing farmland. A recent study investigates how the benefits of these schemes can be optimised and made more cost-effective. The findings highlight the importance of hedgerow trees in the survival of farmland wildlife.

T Merckx, R E Feber, P Riordan, M C Townsend, N A D Bourn, M S Parsons, D W Macdonald (2009) SCIENCE FOR ENVIRONMENT POLICY: EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Environment News Alert Service Issue 146 March

Effect of field margins on moths depends on species mobility: field-based evidence for landscape-scale conservation

2011-02-16T15:18:15Z

Agri-environment schemes (AES) are widely used policy instruments intended to combat widespread biodiversity declines across agricultural landscapes. Here, using a light trapping and mark-releaserecapture study at a field-scale on nine common and widespread larger moth species, we investigate the effect of wide field margins (a popular current scheme option) and the presence of hedgerow trees (...

T Merckx, R E Feber, R L Dulieu, M C Townsend, M S Parsons, N A D Bourn, P Riordan, D W Macdonald (2009) AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT 129: 302-309

Optimizing the biodiversity gain from agri-environment schemes

2010-09-02T11:25:42Z

How best to optimize the biodiversity gain from agri-environment schemes (AES) has recently been identified as a key policy-relevant question. Here, the effects of two features of lowland agricultural landscapes on the abundance and diversity of larger moths are contrasted. Although both features bring about positive effects, hedgerow trees have a larger impact than 6m wide grassy field margins. W...

T Merckx, R E Feber, P Riordan, M C Townsend, N A D Bourn, M S Parsons, D W Macdonald (2009) AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT 130: 177-182

Hedgerow trees ‘Key to UK biodiversity’

2009-05-20T10:22:32Z

Hedgerow trees 'Key to UK biodiversity'

2009-05-20T10:22:13Z

Paying farmers to protect and establish more hedgerow trees could be crucial to halting the decline in biodiversity in the British landscape, according to research from the Department of Zoology at Oxford.

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) Oxford Times - Country Times Supplement (14 May)

More trees please!

2009-09-15T16:47:02Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) usvirginislands.tv (15 Apr)

More trees please!

2009-09-15T16:50:22Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) developersnippets.com (15 Apr)

Hedgerow Trees 'Key To UK Biodiversity'

2009-04-17T10:19:23Z

Hedgerow trees protect biodiversity

2009-05-06T14:00:55Z

Put your money where your moth is, researchers suggest Paying farmers to protect and establish more hedgerow trees could be crucial to halting the decline in biodiversity in the British landscape, a team including Dr Thomas Merckx and Professor David Macdonald of the Department of Zoology has found. The team focused on larger moths as an important indicator of biodiversity, recording the numbe...

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) Blueprint - Staff News for the University of Oxford - April

Hedgerow trees 'Key to UK biodiversity

2009-05-20T10:21:24Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) CoolerChoice.com (13 Apr)

Call for more hedgerow trees

2009-04-24T13:16:01Z

Scientists from Oxford University last week called for greater support for hedgerow trees to be established and supported, in an effort to end the decline in UK biodiversity. The scientists' call stemmed from the findings of a study which revealed that hedgerow trees offered a greater beneficial impact than wide field margins on UK farms.

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) Shooting Times and Country Magazine (23 Apr)

Hedgerow Trees ‘Key To UK Biodiversity’

2009-04-17T10:16:24Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) EarthPortal.org - Earth News - News in Focus (10 Apr)

Hedgerow trees 'Key to UK biodiversity'

2009-05-06T13:52:32Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) News.surfwax.com - SurfWax biology news (20 Apr)

Hedgerow Trees ‘Key To UK Biodiversity’

2009-05-06T13:46:05Z

T Merckx, D W Macdonald (2009) Ecounderstanding.wordpress.com (29 Apr)

The Upper Thames Project - Farming for moths

2011-03-22T12:06:23Z

T Merckx (2008) Conservation Review, 2000-08 58-59,

Thermal flight budget of a woodland butterfly in woodland versus agricultural landscapes: An experimental assessment

2010-09-02T11:27:55Z

We assessed the impact of vegetation structure and type of landscape on microclimatic conditions for flight activity, using the heliothermic butterfly Pararge aegeria as a model. Dummies (i.e., dead specimens with spread wings, on a hypodermic needle with a thermocouple) that initially were warmed up to similar thorax temperatures were able to cover larger distances, and they heated up faster, wit...

T Merckx, S Van Dongen, E Matthysen, H Van Dyck (2008) BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY 9: 4 433-442

Farming for Moths

2010-09-02T11:22:02Z

T Merckx (2008) Moths Count Newsletter - p.10

Habitat fragmentation affects habitat-finding ability of the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria L.

2010-09-02T11:31:13Z

The ability of an organism to find new habitat is likely to contribute to dispersal success in different landscapes. We compared the ability of male speckled wood butterflies from two types of landscape to orientate towards forested habitat as a behavioural assay of the ability to perceive forested habitat at a distance (25-200 m). This field release-experiment showed that butterflies of fragmente...

T Merckx, H Van Dyck (2007) ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR 74: 4 1029-1037

Pale Shining Brown Polia bombycina (Hufn.) (Lep.: Noctuidae) re-discovered in Oxfordshire in 2005 and 2006 – a nationally significant population of a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species

2010-09-02T11:21:39Z

MC Townsend, T Merckx (2007) THE ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION 119: 72-74

Using mark-release-recapture to investigate habitat use in a range of common macro-moth species

2010-09-02T11:28:12Z

1. Substantial declines have been documented in many of the so called ‘common’ macro-moth species in the UK. One cause of this decline is the intensification of agriculture and, in response to this, Environmental Stewardship schemes are now offering the opportunity to restore agricultural habitats to provide landscapes for macro-moths and other wildlife. 2. In this study the habitat use of 11...

R L Dulieu, T Merckx, N Paling, G Holloway (2007)

Abundance and species-richness of butterflies and day-flying moths in field margins

2010-09-02T11:20:49Z

1. The intensification of agriculture throughout Europe, and the rest of the world indeed, has been identified as an important threat to wildlife. In order to halt the decline of biodiversity in European farmland, agri-environment (AE) schemes have been introduced. These governmental schemes financially compensate farmers to manage their land in an environmentally-friendly manner. There is some co...

P G J Ward (2007)

Distribution of Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulae) and Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata) eggs - effects of hedgerow management

2007-12-19T14:21:45Z

Populations of British butterflies and moths, including Brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae) and Blue bordered carpet (Plemyria rubiginata), have declined dramatically in the United Kingdom over the past 50 years. These and other butterflies rely on hedgerows as habitats, but unfortunately, over 50% of hedgerows have been removed since 1945. Hedgerow management is therefore crucial for the conservati...

F Van Kesteren (2006)

Moth-friendly farming studied by Oxford team

2009-09-19T09:38:21Z

T Merckx (2006) Butterfly (Butterfly Conservation's magazine)

Landscape structure and phenotypic plasticity in flight morphology in the butterfly Pararge aegeria

2009-09-19T09:24:24Z

In evolutionary time, varying environments may lead to different morphs as a result of genetic adaptation and divergence or phenotypic plasticity. Landscapes that differ in the extent of habitat fragmentation may provide different selection regimes for dispersal, but also for other ecological functions. Several studies on flying insects have shown differences in flight morphology between landscape...

T Merckx, H Van Dyck (2006) OIKOS 113: 52 226-232

Sex- and landscape-related differences in flight ability under suboptimal temperatures in a woodland butterfly

2010-09-02T11:18:57Z

1. Active time budgets of flying ectotherms depend on body temperature. Knowledge of flight ability and performance is currently heavily biased towards the range of temperatures favourable for voluntary flight activity. Flight under suboptimal temperature conditions may also be important, however, in terms of fitness. 2. Here we study the ability of organisms to fly at body temperatures colder ...

T Merckx, B Karlsson, H Van Dyck (2006) FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY 20: 34 436-441

Mate location behaviour of the butterfly Pararge aegeria in woodland and fragmented landscapes

2009-09-19T09:24:48Z

Visually cued mate location behaviour in insects such as butterflies is typically classified by 'wait or seek' dichotomies. Perching males adopt a sit-and-wait strategy at a particular spot rising to intercept passing females (which is often done in an aggressive territorial way), whereas patrolling males are permanently on the wing searching for females. The potential influence of changes in land...

T Merckx, H Van Dyck (2005) ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR 70: 38 411-416

Habitat fragmentation and evolutionary ecology of movement behaviour in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria L.)

2009-09-19T09:40:15Z

This thesis has an evolutionary ecological focus, investigating how organisms cope with changing environments. More specifically, this work addresses the intriguing and timely issue of differing life history traits (including functional morphology and behaviour) in landscapes where an organism’s habitat gets fragmented. Habitat fragmentation is widely recognised as a key problem for biodiversity...

T Merckx (2005)

Changed woodland use and butterflies - Why did butterflies disappear from woodlands in Flanders?

2009-09-19T09:25:38Z

Butterfly diversity has declined from 64 to 45 species in Flanders (north-Belgium) during the 20th century. Biotope loss, fragmentation and eutrophication are the main causes of these extinctions. Despite the fact that the total woodland area remained stable in Flanders during the last century, many typical woodland butterflies went extinct. The loss of habitat quality due to more intensive woodla...

D Gorissen, T Merckx, B Vercoutere, D Maes (2004) LANDSCHAP - JOURNAL FOR LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE IN FLANDERS AND THE NETHERLANDS 21: 2 85-95

Genetic diversity of the Speckled Wood Butterfly in Flemish Brabant (Belgium)

2011-03-22T12:07:38Z

E Janssens & T Merckx (2003) BRAKONA Jaarboek 2003 pp. 72-75,

From Esschenbeek (1934) to Essenbeek (2001) - Plants in and around Halle Forest in the past and now

2011-09-25T12:14:17Z

J Van Schepdael, C De Caluwé, I Brichau, J Janssens, T Merckx (2003)

The evolution of movements and behaviour at boundaries in different landscapes : a common arena experiment with butterflies

2010-09-02T11:24:24Z

As landscapes change, mobility patterns of species may alter. Different mechanistic scenarios may, however, lead to particular patterns. Here, we tested conflicting predictions from two hypotheses on butterfly movements in relation to habitat fragmentation. According to the resource distribution hypothesis, butterflies in more fragmented landscapes would have higher levels of mobility as resources...

T Merckx, H Van Dyck, B Karlsson, O Leimar (2003) PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 270: 36 1815-1821

Population genetic study of the Speckled Wood Butterfly Pararge aegeria (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae) in closed woodland and open agricultural landscapes

2007-12-19T16:35:27Z

E Janssens (2003)

Interrelations among habitat use, behavior, and flight-related morphology in two cooccurring satyrine butterflies, Maniola jurtina and Pyronia tithonus

2010-09-02T11:22:34Z

Mobility, activity patterns, habitat use, and some morphological traits of two often cooccurring satyrine butterflies of grasslands-the meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) and the hedge brown (Pyronia tithonus)-were studied by a mark-release-recapture method at two sites. Additionally, someflight-related morphological traits of a series of collected females of P. tithonus were compared between recently...

T Merckx, H Van Dyck (2002) JOURNAL OF INSECT BEHAVIOR 15: 32 541-561

Mobility and Habitat Use of Maniola jurtina and Pyronia tithonus

2010-09-02T11:26:38Z

T Merckx (1999)