UK Butterflies Under Threat

A new research said that global warming threatens extinction for UK butterflies.

16:13 11 August 2015

A new research has found that even the slightest warming could make UK butterflies extinct by 2050. However, they found that should the connection between butterfly habitats be restored, the impact can be minimised.

 

According to the research that was published in the journal Nature Climate Change, periods of extremely hot and dry weather could significantly reduce the number of butterflies in the country.

 

The researchers studied the impact of an extreme drought event in 1995 on butterfly species. They identified six species that were particularly sensitive to heat.

 

They then assessed what might happen to these species, which include the Cabbage White and the Speckled Wood butterflies, under different levels of warming up to 2100. The research confirms that even the slightest warming could make the species extinct by 2050.

 

"We looked at the extent to which populations crashed from the drought and how long it takes them to recover," said lead author Dr Tom Oliver from Nerc Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

"What we're asking is, as droughts become more frequent whether the return time of the drought was more frequent than the recovery of the butterflies."

 

"And when that was the case you'd get this gradual population erosion and in those places you'd get local extinctions."