Institution
Butterfly Conservation
Nonprofit•Wareham, United Kingdom•
About: Butterfly Conservation is a nonprofit organization based out in Wareham, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Biodiversity. The organization has 135 authors who have published 343 publications receiving 25750 citations. The organization is also known as: BC.
Topics: Population, Biodiversity, Animal ecology, Butterfly, Species richness
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: The authors showed that migratory species can respond rapidly to yearly climate variation, and further global warming is predicted to continue for the next 50-100 years, and some migratory animals can respond quickly to climate variation.
Abstract: Mean global temperatures have risen this century, and further warming is predicted to continue for the next 50-100 years(1-3) Some migratory species can respond rapidly to yearly climate variation ...
2,162 citations
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TL;DR: It is shown that a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species have moved northwards and uphill in Britain over approximately 25 years, mirroring, and in some cases exceeding, the responses of better‐known groups.
Abstract: Evidence is accumulating of shifts in species' distributions during recent climate warming. However, most of this information comes predominantly from studies of a relatively small selection of taxa (i.e., plants, birds and butterflies), which may not be representative of biodiversity as a whole. Using data from less well-studied groups, we show that a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species have moved northwards and uphill in Britain over approximately 25 years, mirroring, and in some cases exceeding, the responses of better-known groups.
1,392 citations
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TL;DR: The dual forces of habitat modification and climate change are likely to cause specialists to decline, leaving biological communities with reduced numbers of species and dominated by mobile and widespread habitat generalists.
Abstract: Habitat degradation and climate change are thought to be altering the distributions and abundances of animals and plants throughout the world, but their combined impacts have not been assessed for any species assemblage1,2,3,4. Here we evaluated changes in the distribution sizes and abundances of 46 species of butterflies that approach their northern climatic range margins in Britain—where changes in climate and habitat are opposing forces. These insects might be expected to have responded positively to climate warming over the past 30 years, yet three-quarters of them declined: negative responses to habitat loss have outweighed positive responses to climate warming. Half of the species that were mobile and habitat generalists increased their distribution sites over this period (consistent with a climate explanation), whereas the other generalists and 89% of the habitat specialists declined in distribution size (consistent with habitat limitation). Changes in population abundances closely matched changes in distributions. The dual forces of habitat modification and climate change are likely to cause specialists to decline, leaving biological communities with reduced numbers of species and dominated by mobile and widespread habitat generalists.
1,273 citations
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TL;DR: A comparison at the national scale of population and regional extinctions of birds, butterflies, and vascular plants from Britain in recent decades is presented, strengthening the hypothesis that the natural world is experiencing the sixth major extinction event in its history.
Abstract: There is growing concern about increased population, regional, and global extinctions of species. A key question is whether extinction rates for one group of organisms are representative of other taxa. We present a comparison at the national scale of population and regional extinctions of birds, butterflies, and vascular plants from Britain in recent decades. Butterflies experienced the greatest net losses, disappearing on average from 13% of their previously occupied 10-kilometer squares. If insects elsewhere in the world are similarly sensitive, the known global extinction rates of vertebrate and plant species have an unrecorded parallel among the invertebrates, strengthening the hypothesis that the natural world is experiencing the sixth major extinction event in its history.
883 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a standardized assessment of 25 532 rates of phenological change for 726 UK terrestrial, freshwater and marine taxa and trophic levels and show that the majority of spring and summer events have advanced, and more rapidly than previously documented.
Abstract: Recent changes in the seasonal timing (phenology) of familiar biological events have been one of the most conspicuous signs of climate change. However, the lack of a standardized approach to analysing change has hampered assessment of consistency in such changes among different taxa and trophic levels and across freshwater, terrestrial and marine environments. We present a standardized assessment of 25 532 rates of phenological change for 726 UK terrestrial, freshwater and marine taxa. The majority of spring and summer events have advanced, and more rapidly than previously documented. Such consistency is indicative of shared large scale drivers. Furthermore, average rates of change have accelerated in a way that is consistent with observed warming trends. Less coherent patterns in some groups of organisms point to the agency of more local scale processes and multiple drivers. For the first time we show a broad scale signal of differential phenological change among trophic levels; across environments advances in timing were slowest for secondary consumers, thus heightening the potential risk of temporal mismatch in key trophic interactions. If current patterns and rates of phenological change are indicative of future trends, future climate warming may exacerbate trophic mismatching, further disrupting the functioning, persistence and resilience of many ecosystems and having a major impact on ecosystem services.
761 citations
Authors
Showing all 135 results
Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
---|---|---|---|
Josef Settele | 68 | 295 | 24919 |
Richard Fox | 48 | 109 | 10984 |
Tom Brereton | 40 | 119 | 5964 |
Martin Warren | 32 | 56 | 7128 |
Dirk Maes | 32 | 147 | 4170 |
Michiel F. WallisDeVries | 32 | 59 | 4990 |
Chris van Swaay | 29 | 58 | 4465 |
Lars Pettersson | 26 | 89 | 2149 |
Martin Wiemers | 24 | 59 | 4661 |
Roy H. A. van Grunsven | 22 | 43 | 1608 |
Miguel L. Munguira | 22 | 64 | 1592 |
Nigel A. D. Bourn | 20 | 34 | 1905 |
Rudi Verovnik | 20 | 58 | 1533 |
Irma Wynhoff | 19 | 43 | 1754 |
Martinus E. Huigens | 15 | 24 | 1102 |