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<DIV><FONT size=2>Normally, I'd have no problems with recommending information
from The Independent newspaper, but since they were the first to report on cell
phones and CCD, I'm a little more suspect now. However, their source for this
article is Butterfly Conservation (rather than a paper discovered on the
Internet), and I do trust Martin and the others at that
organization!</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><STRONG>Early arrival of butterflies demonstrates impact of climate change
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<DIV><FONT size=2>By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Published: 22 May 2007 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>From The Independent (London), at: <A
href="http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2567979.ece">http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2567979.ece</A></FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=2>Britain's astounding April, the warmest on record, has produced
an astounding effect in the natural world, with at least 11 species of butterfly
making their earliest recorded appearances this spring in what will be seen as
the most remarkable demonstration yet of the effects of climate change on
Britain's wildlife. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>For several years biologists have been watching warming
temperatures affect living organisms, with leaves opening, birds nesting and
insects emerging earlier. But what has happened in 2007 with butterflies has
been quite exceptional.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Of our 59 resident and regular migrant species, 37 have now
appeared, and of these, all except one (the orange tip) have emerged earlier
than they would have done a decade ago, according to the wildlife charity
Butterfly Conservation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>More remarkably still, 11 of them have broken all records for
early emergence, some by scarcely-believable margins.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The Lulworth skipper, which normally appears in the third week
of June, was recorded in its Dorset downland habitat near Weymouth on 28 April,
seven weeks early, while the speckled wood, normally out and about at the end of
March, was seen in Cornwall on 16 January, also seven weeks ahead of its record.
The green hairstreak, the chalkhill blue and the wall brown were all recorded
six weeks earlier than ever before.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Other record-breakers were the large skipper (a month earlier
than ever), the small blue (also a month), the meadow brown (a month), the
Adonis blue (three weeks), the brown argus (a fortnight) and the holly blue
(also a fortnight). On average, these butterflies all emerged more than
four-and-a-half weeks before they would have done during the mid-1990s,
according to Butterfly Conservation's records.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"We have been monitoring Britain's butterfly populations for
decades, but we have never seen anything like this," said Martin Warren, the
charity's chief executive. "It's quite extraordinary. I myself saw the Lulworth
skipper on 28 April. My wife called my attention to it and I photographed it,
but I could scarcely believe it."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Butterfly Conservation's experts are confident that only global
warming can explain the changes. "Butterfly data, collected by hundreds of UK
recorders, definitely points to climate change," Mr Warren said. "Species are
not only emerging early, but several species are extending their geographic
range northwards. The small skipper, the comma and the holly blue butterflies
have all crossed the border into Scotland in the past few years, very probably
as a result of the changing climate."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>There is a possible 12th species that may have broken its
record: the large white, usually appearing in early April, but seen on 19
January. However, it is possible that this insect may have been bred in
captivity.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Many people saw butterflies on the very warm days experienced in
January, especially the red admiral, the peacock, the small tortoiseshell and
the comma. But although this is not usual, they are all related species who
share the survival strategy of overwintering as adults - compared with some
species which overwinter as eggs or chrysalises - so a very warm day in January
can simply wake them up.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>With the 11 species which have broken early-emergence records,
their whole life cycle has been speeded up dramatically.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>April 2007 was the culminating month of the hottest 12 months,
taken together, ever recorded in Britain, with a provisional mean temperature of
10.4C. April itself was the hottest April since records began in 1659, and it
followed the second-warmest winter since records began in the UK, and the
warmest-ever autumn.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Spring, at least in southern Britain, has in effect been a full
month early this year, and many wild flowers, such as foxgloves, are also
appearing far in advance of normal. The early season has created severe problems
for exhibitors at the Chelsea Flower Show, which opened yesterday, as flowers
have been coming into bloom far ahead of the show dates, and have had to be held
back artificially. </FONT></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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<DIV><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>The Xerces Society is an international
nonprofit organization that </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>protects the diversity of life through
invertebrate conservation. </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>To
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>join the Society, make a </FONT></FONT><FONT
size=1>contribution</FONT><FONT size=1>, </FONT><FONT size=1>or read about our
work, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>please visit </FONT><FONT size=1><A
href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</A>.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Matthew Shepherd</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Director, Pollinator Conservation Program</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215,
USA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233
6794</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Email: </FONT><A href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org"><FONT
size=1>mdshepherd@xerces.org</FONT></A><FONT size=1> </FONT></DIV>
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