Farmland butterflies soar after historic low
Farmland butterflies thrived last year after benefiting from the best summer weather for seven years, a Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) has revealed.
Typical farmland species such as the Brimstone, Common Blue, Small Copper, Small Skipper, Large Skipper and Small Tortoiseshell all bounced back in 2013 after experiencing a crash in numbers during 2012, some of the worst on record.
WCBS Co-ordinator Dr Zoë Randle from Butterfly Conservation, said: “Farmland butterflies really thrived last year primarily due to the fantastic summer weather which provided ideal conditions with several recording their best ever WCBS results.”
The annual survey, running since 2009, counts butterflies in more than 850 randomly selected 1km-squares across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This is done to assess the health of butterfly populations across the wider countryside rather than at specially managed hotspots such as nature reserves.
Hedgerows and field margins that are characteristic of farmland are an important habitat for butterflies.
Last year, recorders saw an average of 85 butterflies of five species per survey made over July and August; almost double the numbers recorded in 2012.
The Small Tortoiseshell, which has suffered an ongoing decline, recorded its best summer since the start of WCBS.
More than 6,833 individuals were counted with the butterfly seen in 80% of squares compared to just 40% in 2012.
The Small Copper and Brimstone also thrived and were both more widespread and abundant than in the previous year.
For the fifth year in succession the Meadow Brown was the most widespread and abundant species. The butterfly was recorded in more than 90% of squares with 8,000 more butterflies counted in 2013 than 2012.
The Holly Blue and Red Admiral were among the minority of species that didn’t have such a good year with numbers down for both compared to 2012.
Kate Risely, who co-ordinates the Breeding Bird Survey butterfly surveyors, said: “It’s great news that populations of widespread butterfly species increased in 2013.
“These results demonstrate the value of large-scale volunteer surveys for monitoring country-wide trends in butterfly numbers. Recording butterflies and birds at the same sites gives us a unique insight into the health of our countryside.”
The WCBS is run by Butterfly Conservation, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) as part of the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring scheme (UKBMS).
