Farmland species struggling to move north
Moths struggling to move north to adapt to climate change in the UK could be assisted by pinpointing areas where habitat restoration can give them a smoother journey.
A new study from Rothamsted with the University of Liverpool, Butterfly Conservation and the University of Reading combined data gathered in part from the Rothamsted Insect Survey with new computer simulations to predict the movement of different moth species in a changing climate.
The research, published in the journal Global Change Biology, revealed that some moth species were only moving northwards across certain British landscapes, putting them at greater risk.
Farmland and suburban moths in particular, which are crucial for both pollination and as food to support birds and bats, struggled to move across landscapes.
Dr Chris Shortall, entomologist at Rothamsted Research and co-author on the study, said the research had helped identify landscape features that seemed to slow the movements of moths.
“The restricted expansion of farmland moths is surprising and shows it is not safe to assume that such relatively tolerant species face no geographical barriers to range expansion. There may be ways to adapt farming practices to improve species ability to move through these landscapes.”
The team found that landscapes with hills or varying temperatures acted as bottlenecks, slowing the movement of farmland and suburban moths.
The reasons for this are unclear, although it may be that hills present a physical barrier to dispersal, or that upland areas contain fewer hedgerows, nectar sources and larval food plants.
Dr Jenny Hodgson, lead author from the University of Liverpool, said: “These new computer models will help us to target habitat restoration in the most effective places to help species adapt to climate change by shifting their ranges across the country.”
There is widespread concern that UK wildlife will fail to track climate change if habitat is too scarce or insufficiently connected. However, up until now there has been a lack of capacity to predict the movement of species across landscapes under climate change.
Professor Tom Oliver, an ecologist at the University of Reading and a co-author of the study, said: “Previous research has shown how severe fragmentation of habitats in our UK landscapes is preventing the ability of species to shift their ranges in response to climate warming. We urgently need targeted habitat restoration to help species adapt to climate change. Utilising predictions like these would enable us to effectively create moth motorways, helping endangered moth species reach new, more suitable regions more quickly in their bid to survive.”
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Posted On: 23/05/2022