BUTTERFLIES in Britain could face extinction if droughts continue, according to research.
A new study revealed the ringlet butterfly population dropped severely following the 1995 drought and subsequent changes to the UK countryside.
If butterflies do not recover from the battering they received during the dry period earlier in the year, they could be wiped out completely if another drought hits.
The ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus is a grass-feeding butterfly commonly found close to woodland edges across the UK. Using data collected from 79 UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme sites over a ten-year period which spanned a severe drought the researchers found ringlet populations dropped severely in drier regions.
They also discovered the habitat in the wider countryside around sites influenced numbers, with larger and more connected patches of woodland reducing the butterflies sensitivity to the drought.
Britain has suffered from a number of severe droughts over the years – in 1976, 1995 and in parts of the country earlier this year – and global warming suggests the frequency of summer droughts is expected to rise.
Experts at the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Oxfordshire described the long-term situation in the UK regions as “worrying”.
Research leader Dr David Roy said: “The delayed recovery of butterfly populations is worrying given severe summer droughts are expected to become common in some areas of the UK. If populations don’t recover by the time the next drought hits, they may face gradual erosion until local extinction.”
The Ecography journal study says conservation needs to becarried out.
Dr Tom Brereton, from Butterfly Conservation, said: “Our results suggest landscape-scale conservation projects are vital in helping species to recover from extreme events.”
