Abstract: 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 options, wide field margins and hedgerow trees, using light traps at the landscape-scale and for mark-release-recapture at the farm-scale. We hypothesized that abundance would be highest at wide field margins and at hedgerow trees, and that if hedgerow trees conferred a positive effect, individuals would be more likely to follow hedgerows than crossing exposed fields while on the move. The results showed that significantly more individuals were captured at sites with a hedgerow tree. Numbers were also higher at wide margins, but this was not statistically significant, and no individuals were caught at field centres. Our study suggests that general options within appropriately designed and implemented AES aimed at increasing overall biodiversity in intensive agricultural landscapes have the potential to not only benefit common, widespread habitat generalists, but some rare and more endangered species as well. P. bombycina serves as an example of how general AES options, existing and novel ones alike, might cater for the needs of rare and localised species. As the precise ecological requirements of most invertebrate species remain unknown, we urge scientists and governments to address the challenge to research and design truly general AES, which options should be able to deliver not only for widespread species but also for the less-widespread counterpart of farmland biodiversity.
Abstract: 1. Agricultural intensification is the main driver of global biodiversity loss. Agri-environment schemes 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 importance for the Brown hairstreak butterfly. This species suffered severe declines due to agricultural intensification that may be indicative of changes for other widespread insect species that use hedgerows as resources.
3. Egg-deposition preferences were assessed by comparing egg densities among hostplant sections in two study landscapes. All sections were systematically searched during four consecutive years, resulting in 745 observed eggs.
4. We demonstrate that the ground plan outline and aspect of landscape elements, the relative position within landscape elements, and the amount of young hostplant growth are particularly relevant in explaining observed egg densities, and we link their importance with the butterflyâs behavioural biology.
5. Our study provides evidence that management focused on providing ample young growth, and transforming the landscape element ground plan outline from linear to a scalloped pattern, would benefit ectothermic species by providing more sheltered micro-climates when they use these structural resources for breeding, feeding and moving through typically exposed agricultural landscapes. We believe that integrating such management options within general agri-environment schemes would translate into effective, large-scale conservation measures for Brown hairstreaks and other species alike.
Notes: Submitted on 27 November 2009
Accepted on 8 February 2010
Abstract: 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. Whilst AES payments are given to create and maintain grass margins, no financial reward is currently offered for the retention of hedgerow trees. Furthermore, it was only in areas where the amount of land under AES was experimentally increased, by targeting farmers, that the presence of hedgerow trees resulted in a substantially higher abundance (+60%) and diversity (+38%) of moths. Thus, by using larger moths as bio-indicators of landscape-scale quality, it is demonstrated that improvements to the cost-effectiveness of AES could be achieved, firstly, by providing more appropriate financial rewards to farmers for different landscape features, and secondly, through landscape-scale targeting of farmers to encourage participation in AES.
Abstract: 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 (a
potential scheme option in England) on moth abundance. Of these, we show that wide field margins
positively affected abundances, although species did not all respond in the same way. We demonstrate
that this variation can be attributed to species-specific mobility characteristics. Those species for which
the effect of wide margins was strongest covered shorter distances, and were more frequently recaptured
at their site of first capture. This demonstrates that the standard, field-scale uptake of AES may be
effective only for less mobile species. We discuss that a landscape-scale approach, in contrast, could
deliver significant biodiversity gains, as our results indicate that such an approach (perhaps delivered
through targeting farmers to join AES) would be effective for the majority of wider countryside species,
irrespective of their mobility level.
Abstract: 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, with higher ambient temperature and with lower wind speed. Convective cooling decreased with increasing degree of shelter, and with lower flight height. Simulated flight bouts bridged 140±23m under unsheltered, 81±13m under partly sheltered and 29±6m under sheltered conditions. Ambient temperature and wind force were higher in highly fragmented, agricultural landscapes than in continuous woodland landscapes. Males, and not females, were furrier in agricultural landscapes. This sexual difference is interpreted in terms of differences in life history among the sexes.
Abstract: 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 fragmented agricultural landscape origin were better able to orient towards habitat at a greater distance than butterflies of continuous woodland landscape origin. They followed more linear tracks, displayed flight angles that deviated less from orientation towards habitat, and showed orientations that were significantly directed towards habitat at greater distances than butterflies of continuous landscape origin. Attraction was facilitated when target habitat had a high profile. Our behavioural experiment provides novel insights into landscape connectivity and points to interpopulation differences in the ability to find habitat associated with landscape type.
Abstract: 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 than those at which flight is initiated voluntarily, and the duration of such flights. Laboratory-reared Pararge aegeria (L.) butterflies that originated from woodland and agricultural landscape were tested at five temperatures (range: 10-21 degrees C) in a common-garden set-up.
3. We predict that males are able to fly at lower temperatures than females as males have lower wing loading (i.e. body mass/wing area). Since woodland is on average cooler than agricultural landscape we also predict that flight ability at low temperature is better developed in woodland individuals.
4. Individuals showed an ability to fly at all tested temperatures and flights were longer with increasing temperature. Males flew for longer than females. There was no difference in flight duration between sexes at the lowest temperature, but an increasing difference with increasing temperature. We showed that woodland butterflies flew for longer and had higher wing loading than agricultural landscape butterflies.
5. Our results shed new light on the thermal ecology of flight at suboptimal temperatures and are discussed from both proximate and ultimate points of view.
Abstract: 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 landscapes, but whether such differences result from plastic responses have rarely been tested. We did a reciprocal transplant experiment with offspring of speckled wood butterfly females (Pararge aegeria) from three types of landscape differing in fragmentation: woodland landscape, landscape with woodland fragments and agricultural landscape with only hedgerows. Young caterpillars were allowed to grow individually on potted host grasses in small enclosures under the three landscape conditions (split-brood design). Mortality in caterpillars was much higher in agricultural landscape compared to the other landscapes. Additive to the effect of landscape of development, landscape of origin also affected mortality rate in a similar way. Flight morphology of the adults resulting from the experiment differed significantly with landscape. Independent of the landscape of origin, males and females that developed in agricultural landscape were the heaviest and had the greatest wing loadings. Females that developed in agricultural landscape had higher relative thorax mass (i.e. greater flight muscle allocation) in line with adaptive predictions on altered dispersal behaviour with type of landscape. In males, relative thorax mass did not respond significantly relative to landscape of development, but males originating from landscape with woodland fragments allocated more into their thorax compared to males from the other types. We found significant G x E interactions for total dry mass and wing loading. Our results suggest the existence of phenotypic plasticity in butterfly flight morphology associated with landscape structure.
Abstract: 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 landscape caused by habitat fragmentation on mate location behaviour has only rarely been addressed. We investigated this behaviour among populations of the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, living in continuous woodland versus highly fragmented agricultural landscape with hedgerows and small patches of woodland. In the latter landscape males showed higher levels of aggressive fast take-offs (an indicator of territorial perching), but also higher levels of displacement (an indicator of patrolling). In an independent census, behaviour intermediate between perching and patrolling was much more frequent in the agricultural landscape than in the woodland landscape. Our results suggest that the dichotomy of perching versus patrolling as typically observed in woodland fades away in highly fragmented agricultural landscape. We discuss our results in relation to differences in densities and thermal properties of both types of landscape.
Abstract: 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 woodland management regimes seems therefore more likely to have caused the decline of woodland butterflies. To test this hypothesis, we use historical butterfly data from two woodlands (Meerdaalwoud and Walenbos) and we relate changes in butterfly diversity in both woodlands to changes in management practices (from coppicing to high forest) and to land use changes in general. In total, both studied woodlands lost between 31-37% of their original butterfly fauna. Almost all typical woodland butterflies but also species that make use of open areas within the woodlands went extinct in the second half of the 20th century due to afforestation of open areas and management changes towards high forest practices. More butterfly friendly management measures (larger rides, more open area) may benefit woodland butterflies, but many specialist woodland species are too sedentary to recolonize woodland sites in Flanders spontaneously.
(De dagvlinderfauna van bossen is in de loop van de voorbije eeuw sterk verarmd. Evoluties binnen het bosbeheer blijken deze trend onvoldoende te verklaren. Het verdwijnen van open plekken en het intensiever landbouwgebruik van de resterende open ruimte kunnen wel als oorzaak worden aangeduid. Hierdoor trad een sterke bijkomende homogenisering op met een afname van de noodzakelijke habitatkwaliteit voor de overleving van dagvlinders in bosbiotopen.)
Abstract: 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 are more scattered. However, these butterflies could have lower levels of mobility as they experience 'hard' habitat boundaries more frequently (i.e. higher crossing costs) compared with butterflies in landscapes with continuous habitat; i.e. the behaviour-at-boundaries hypothesis. We studied movements, habitat boundary crossing and habitat preference of laboratory-reared individuals of Pararge aegeria that originated from woodland and agricultural landscapes, by using an experimental landscape as a common environment (outdoor cages) to test the predictions, taking into account sexual differences and weather. Woodland butterflies covered longer distances, were more prone to cross open-shade boundaries, travelled more frequently between woodland parts of the cages and were more at flight than agricultural butterflies. Our results support the behaviour-at-boundaries hypothesis, with 'softer' boundaries for woodland landscapes. Because the butterflies were reared in a common environment, the observed behavioural differences rely on heritable variation between populations from woodland and agricultural landscapes.
Abstract: 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 colonized and permanent populations. The more active, but less mobile P. tithonus got faster wing damage than did M. jurtina and had more, and more symmetrically spread eyespots onthe wings. For both species, the microdistribution was affected by shelter, long vegetation, and nectar, but this was more pronounced in P. tithonus. It is hypothesized that P. tithonus may traverse the same landscape at a slower rate than M. jurtina.
Abstract: 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.bio.sunysb.edu/morph/). Furthermore, powerful shape analyses can also be carried out in statistical packages such as R (Claude, 2008). Unlike 10-20 years ago, these days it is therefore no longer difficult to accurately record the position of landmarks on any biological structure. Furthermore, such landmark configurations can easily be compared within and between species using a variety of analyses that together comprise the field of geometric morphometrics (Zelditch et al., 2004). The theoretical core of geometric morphometrics has been well described and is easy to understand, and as such geometric morphometrics can easily be implemented in a wide variety of research fields, such as evolutionary ecology (Zelditch et al., 2004). Using the speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) as our model species, we will illustrate the variety of uses to which geometric morphometrics can be applied to understand the effects of the environment on possibly adaptive butterfly wing size and shape variation in ecologically relevant contexts.
Abstract: 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.
Abstract: 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 organismâs habitat gets fragmented. Habitat fragmentation is widely recognised as a key problem for biodiversity at the global and local scale. The speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria L.) was chosen as a model of a flying ectotherm (more precisely a heliotherm). Although this temperate-zone satyrid is primarily a woodland butterfly, it also occurs in more fragmented landscapes which include woodland aspects; such as agricultural landscapes with hedgerows and/or small patches of woodland. A primary interest is to evaluate to what extent landscape structure influences movement behaviour, such as tracking resources and dispersal between populations. Movements are closely linked with the behaviour and properties of butterfly thermoregulation. In order to test a series of hypotheses, we compared the behaviour, morphology and thermal properties of individuals from continuous woodland landscapes to those from highly fragmented, agricultural landscapes. In the latter, the environment between suitable habitat fragments is an intensively managed and hostile landscape matrix. Using several experimental approaches â including reciprocal transplant experiments and observations in âcommon gardenâ designs â we provide evidence for landscape-related differences in behaviour, functional morphology and eco-physiology. This suggests fast micro-evolutionary changes. From an adaptive point of view, these differences are in line with the assumption of different dispersal rates that may result from altered microclimatic conditions and from changed distributions (and hence encounter rates) of resources between landscape types.
In evolutionary time, varying environments may lead to different morphs as a result of genetic adaptation and divergence, or phenotypic plasticity; the latter allows individuals to deal with varying or changing environments more rapidly than the former. Results of the first experiment (i.e. reciprocal transplant with offspring of females from differently fragmented landscapes), suggest the existence of landscape-related phenotypic plasticity in butterfly flight morphology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence for this kind of plasticity. The observed change in flight morphology can be interpreted in terms of altered ability to cover distances among resources, in line with altered distributions and encounter rates of resources in the landscape associated with habitat fragmentation. In addition, we found significant genotype-by-environment (G x E) interactions for some of the traits. This suggests that the observed landscape-related phenotypic plasticity can respond to natural selection, and, hence, that it may contribute to evolutionary changes in dispersal (and probably in other flight-related behaviours that need further research) with changed landscape structure. The cues causing these responses have not yet been studied, but microclimatic parameters (such as temperature) are most likely involved. In this context, we hypothesised that species with high levels of plasticity in morphology and life history have a greater capacity to deal with changing and variable landscapes than other species. The experiment also revealed new data on differential larval mortality between the different landscapes, and showed an additional role of landscape of origin to this mortality. This demonstrates that evolutionary ecological studies on habitat fragmentation should not be exclusively limited to adult ecology.
Altered microclimates may cause direct effects on flight and costs of flight in small ectotherms such as butterflies, independent of changes in the distribution of resources (e.g. as host plants or feeding sources). Agricultural landscapes were typified by higher ambient temperatures and wind speeds compared to woodland landscapes. This was found to lead to a larger variation in heating rate of P. aegeria in agricultural landscapes, using butterfly dummies (i.e. dead butterfly specimens) on thermoprobes. We simulated flight also using these dummies to measure the distance required to cool thorax flight temperatures from optimal (33°C) to a given (25°C) suboptimal temperature under different environmental/landscape conditions. Butterflies may compensate for the higher level of convective cooling in agricultural landscapes by flying more frequently in the vicinity of shelter providing vegetation structures, especially when they do so close to the substrate. We were then able to prove that living individuals fly more frequently at lower heights in agricultural landscapes than in woodlands. Besides these behavioural aspects, we found that individuals in agricultural landscapes had more fur than woodland butterflies. This can be interpreted as a morphological adaptation to reduce the impact of convective cooling by its thermal isolation effect. At the landscape level, these results draw attention to the potential importance of vegetation structures as corridors for movement across fragmented landscapes. Moreover, we predict that the significance of such structural characteristics will be weather or climate dependent. If the butterflies were only able to make relatively short flights, a finer grained ecological network of corridors would be required. Next, we experimentally tested whether flight ability differed between laboratory-reared offspring from a woodland landscape and those from an agricultural landscape. Apart from the observation that P. aegeria is able to fly at much lower ambient temperatures than other previously studied butterfly species, individuals of woodland origin flew for longer at suboptimal and optimal temperatures than did progeny of females from the agricultural landscape. In summary, all results point to temperature-related, adaptive differences in cooler, but sheltered environments of continuous woodland versus warmer, but more exposed environments of fragmented, agricultural landscapes.
Selection regimes on movement behaviour, through the costs associated with flight activity, may be related to the degree of habitat fragmentation as a result of microclimatic properties together with the distribution of resources. Here, we studied whether and to what extent P. aegeria butterflies from contrasting landscape types differed in movement behaviour or related traits, such as mate location behaviour, flight activity, dispersal propensity, and the ability to find forested habitat. We found significant differences in mate location behaviour with landscape: males showed higher levels of aggressive take-offs (an indicator of territorial perching), and made more displacements (an indicator of patrolling) in agricultural landscapes compared to woodland. Similarly, in an independent census, there was a much higher frequency of behaviour intermediate between perching and patrolling in agricultural landscapes than in woodland. These results suggest that the clear dichotomy of perching versus patrolling as typically observed in woodland, fades away in highly fragmented, agricultural landscapes. Although alternative mate location strategies have attracted much attention among behavioural ecologists, and habitat fragmentation provides a typical framework for studies on changes in dispersal behaviour, the study of mate location in the context of habitat fragmentation has only rarely been addressed. Our experimental approach to compare behavioural responses among adult offspring of field-collected females in large, outdoor cages, revealed that woodland butterflies were more mobile than those from agriculture: more frequently at flight, covered longer distances, were more prone to cross open-shade boundaries, and travelled more frequently between âwoodlandâ parts in the cages. In another field experiment, we released butterflies form both types of landscape at several distances from suitable habitat to evaluate differences in detection ability. Butterflies from the agricultural landscape oriented themselves towards forested habitat from a distance twice as far as did conspecifics from woodland. These results agree with heritable differences in flight activity, dispersal propensity and habitat-finding ability among the landscapes pointing to evolutionary consequences of habitat fragmentation. We discuss several new ideas that emerge from the results, such as about the variation between populations from different landscapes to deal with coarse-grained ecological infrastructures. It may be valuable to test in other species, particularly those of high conservation interest, for different optima in the geometry of corridor or stepping stone networks for the same species in different landscape types.
In addition to the several lines of evidence for evolutionary changes in thermoregulation and movement behaviour with landscape, we found that the effects were often sexspecific. These sexual differences can be understood relative to the multifunctional nature of butterfly flight, which differs between males and females as they differ in behavioural repertoires and ecological roles. This study on the evolutionary ecology of movement, behaviour, functional morphology and thermoregulation in P. aegeria adds significantly to the diverse ecological and evolutionary effects that habitat fragmentation may have on life history traits of organisms dealing with our man-made landscapes.
Abstract: 1. Substantial declines have been documented in many of the so called âcommonâ 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 common macro-moth species was compared using ten portable 12 volt actinic light traps. The abundance of moths found in standard arable field margins and wider field margins, of up to 6m were compared and the effect of a tree being present at the site was investigated.
3. The wider field margins had a higher abundance of macro-moths compared to the standard margins, the presence of a tree had no significant affect on moth abundance. It was also found that sites with high nectar availability had a higher abundance of moths. The dispersal ability of each species was looked at and it was found that moths with a greater wing span were found to be dispersing greater distances.
4. The findings in this study suggest that there is great benefit to increasing the size of arable field margins, and in increasing the abundance of flowers and the plant diversity. This may help to combat the increasing decline of many macro-moth species and could help lesson the impact of climate change on moths by reducing the fragmentation of agro-ecosystems currently found in the UK.
Notes: - Supervision of M.Sc. in Wildlife Management and Conservation Research Project
- CWAC E-Journal (2007) Issue 1, pp1-9
Abstract: 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 controversy as to the effectiveness of some AE schemes, in particular as to whether local habitat quality or landscape level connectivity are the main driving factors that determine populations on farmland, and thus which should be the focus of AE schemes.
2. The species richness and abundance of butterflies and day-flying moths (Lepidoptera) were recorded at 16 farms in four river catchment areas in Oxfordshire (UK). The roles of field margin width, hedgerow species diversity, presence of trees and landscape connectivity were investigated by means of a fully balanced design.
3. Wide field margins had a positive effect on the species richness and abundance of mobile, generalist species. Increased landscape connectivity also had a positive effect on diurnal Lepidoptera abundance, but not species richness.
4. The species richness of the hedgerow did not affect the species richness or abundance of Lepidoptera present. The presence of trees, however, sorted a positive effect on species richness, but only in areas of higher landscape connectivity.
5. Synthesis and applications. Diurnal Lepidoptera abundance increased with both local habitat quality, in terms of field margin width, as well as landscape-level connectivity. Species richness was increased at sites with wide field margins but was not affected by larger scale landscape connectivity. The data support the use of AE schemes as a method for Lepidoptera conservation.
Notes: Supervision of M. Sc. in Biology Research Project
Abstract: 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 conservation of these and other butterflies. This study aims to discover which hedgerow characteristics are most beneficial to these butterflies, and what steps could be taken by hedgerow managers to benefit them. 50 hedgerows on 13 properties, either nature reserves or farms, were sampled for butterfly eggs, and the hedgerow characteristics, such as height and management, were recorded. Our results suggest that hedgerow height, management, and orientation are important factors affecting the distribution of Brown hairstreak eggs. Field type and pesticide use, as well as hedgerow height and management are important factors for the distribution of Blue bordered carpet eggs. Our results suggest that certain changes in hedgerow management, such as avoiding flailing and decreased pesticide use, could benefit Brown hairstreaks and Blue bordered carpets, and therefore contribute to the conservation of these two species.
Notes: Supervision of M. Sc. in Biology Research Project
Abstract: 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 number and diversity of 270 species of moths on 16 arable farms across Oxfordshire. They found that whilst wide field margins are beneficial for moth populations, hedgerow trees had an even greater impact, in some landscapes boosting moth numbers by 60% and their species diversity by 38%. Their research is reported in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.
âOur results suggest that the shelter provided by hedgerow trees is probably the main reason for their beneficial
effects on moth numbers and diversity,â said Dr Thomas Merckx of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, the lead author of the report. âThey create a sheltered microclimate for individual moths and may act as âstepping stonesâ enabling moths and other insects to cross open agricultural spaces. This could make hedgerow trees even more important in the future for British and European biodiversity, since they may mitigate some negative effects of climate change by allowing species to move northwards in response to climate change, even through agricultural landscapes.â
The restoration and management of wide field margins is currently financially rewarded in the EU but there are no such incentives for farmers to manage hedgerow trees.
Abstract: 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.
Notes: edited by SCU, The University of the West of England, Bristol
Abstract: 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.
Notes: News Release 07/04/09:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/090407a.html
Link to photos 07/04/09:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/090407.html
News Story 08/04/09:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090408.html
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Abstract: 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.
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Abstract: 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.
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Abstract: 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 trees die, vital stepping stones for wildlife are lost. Melanie Abbott finds out how we get them back.
Notes: Fri 10 Apr 2009 - 05:45
Farming Today: News and issues in rural Britain BBC
Abstract: 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.
Abstract: 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.
