Effects of drought on contrasting insect and plant species in the UK in the mid-1990s
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AbstractAim We examined the effects of drought in the summer of 1995 and the subsequent year on contrasting species of plants, moths, butterflies and ground beetles. We tested whether population increases were associated with: (a) species of warm environments (b) species of dry environments (c) species with rapid reproduction (d) species with high rates of dispersal. Location The study was conducted at Environmental Change Network (ECN) sites throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Methods Climate monitoring, recording of plant species in permanent plots, transect walking for butterflies, light trapping for moths and pitfall trapping for carabid beetles were used. Results There was an overall increase in the number of species recorded in permanent vegetation plots between 1994 and 1996, principally among the annual and biennial vascular plants, probably as a result of gap colonization in grasslands. Most butterfly and moth species increased between 1994 and 1995. Among the butterflies, a southern distribution and high mobility were associated with species tending to increase throughout the period 1994–96, whereas declining species tended to have a northern distribution. A similar number of carabid beetle species increased as decreased in the period 1994–96; decreasing species tended to be associated with lower temperatures and wetter soils. Conclusions: Current climate change scenarios indicate that the incidence of droughts in the United Kingdom will increase. A series of dry, hot summers could lead to a rapid change in the population of some species although others, including many plants, may be more resilient. This may lead to complex changes in ecosystems and needs to be considered in planning conservation strategies.
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Climate change is a well-known factor responsible for insect declines.
“Climate change is a well-known factor responsible for insect declines [15, 18, 21, 37].”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [21]
The analysis renders landscape and climate change as unlikely explanatory factors for the major decline in aerial insect biomass in the investigated protected areas.
“In light of previously suggested driving mechanisms, our analysis renders two of the prime suspects, i.e. landscape [9, 18, 20] and climate change [15, 18, 21, 37], as unlikely explanatory factors for this major decline in aerial insect biomass in the investigated protected areas.”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [21]
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More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
Hallmann, C. A., Sorg, M., Jongejans, E., Siepel, H., Hofland, N., Schwan, H., Stenmans, W., Müller, A., Sumser, H., Hörren, T., et al. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185809 · Cited by 3,499 · see citing works
PEARCE‐HIGGINS, J. W., DENNIS, P., WHITTINGHAM, M. J., & YALDEN, D. W. (2010) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01883.x · Cited by 147 · see citing works
- Authors
- Morecroft, M. D., Bealey, C. E., Howells, O., Rennie, S., & Woiwod, I. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB)
- Rothamsted Research (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Morecroft, M. D.
- Venue
- Global Ecology and Biogeography
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2002-01
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 7-22
- ISSN
- 1466-822X (ISSN-L)
- 1466-8238
- OpenAlex
- W1722599945
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 1.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Global Ecology and Biogeography (publishedVersion)
- Rothamsted Repository (Rothamsted Repository) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecological Modeling › Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Ecology and biodiversity studies
- Keywords
- drought, moths, butterflies, ground beetles, vascular plants, annual and biennial plants, grassland, species distribution, dispersal, climate change, summer temperature, soil moisture, conservation planning, United Kingdom
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