Changing Habitats

Current Activity

Habitat presence and quality is a controlling factor in the distribution and abundance of species. Widespread post-war habitat destruction led to a decline in many species and was a driver for the BRC’s establishment. Now, changes to habitats are often more subtle, brought about by factors such as fluctuating grazing pressure, eutrophication or changing climate. The recording schemes are essential in documenting the effect of these changes and in understanding the habitat requirements of species.

 

 

Key Outputs

The publication of atlases provides the opportunity to analyse long-term changes in range in response to habitat changes and other variables. Codification of attributes, as in PLANTATT147 and BRYOATT148, allows species to be linked to their habitats, an important approach being extended to other species groups. Changes in popular groups with rapidly changing ranges, such as butterflies, are summarised every five years. Records in the BRC database are available for analysis in between major, ‘state of the nation’ reports.

Catastrophic decline of a habitat specialist: Argynnis adippe, the High Brown Fritillary

Map showing declining distribution of high brown fritillary

Figure: Jim Asher, Butterfly Conservation

The High Brown Fritillary (Argynnis adippe) requires warm microhabitats where the larval foodplants, various species of violet, occur with bracken; they include south-facing rocky slopes, coppice woodlands or woodland clearings. Its decline mirrors the loss of coppiced woodland and bracken/grassland mosaics with low intensity grazing by cattle or ponies.

Expansion of a species able to colonise newly available habitats: Hairy Dragonfly

Map showing expansion of hairy dragonfly distribution

Figure: Steve Cham, British Dragonfly Society

As shown by the atlas published in 2014, the distribution of the Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) was mainly coastal in Britain until recent years when it has colonised a number of inland gravel pits that were excavated in the 1960s and have acquired a mature vegetation cover. It may also have benefited from the more favourable climate in recent decades.

National Plant Monitoring Scheme

Photo of surveying for the natinoal plant monitoring scheme

Photo: Lucy Hulmes, CEH.

The National Plant Monitoring Scheme was designed and developed my UKCEH, BSBI, Plantlife and JNCC

The Scheme aims to fill a gap in terrestrial habitat monitoring by focusing on the abundance of plant species within plots for a range of vegetation types. This should enable changes in plant diversity to be detected earlier than is possible with traditional biological recording conducted at broader scales.

General recording has demonstrated habitat change effects on species with a very narrow habitat requirement, such as arable weeds or chalk grassland butterflies. Effects on species with a broader habitat range are harder to measure. Allocating records more precisely to habitats make it possible to investigate the effects of habitat modification on species with broader requirements, and identify changes in their habitat requirements in response to changing climate. This is a rationale of the National Plant Monitoring Scheme.

References

Boyd Robin J., Powney Gary D., Burns Fiona, Danet Alain, Duchenne François, Grainger Matthew J., Jarvis Susan G., Martin Gabrielle, Nilsen Erlend B., Porcher Emmanuelle, Stewart Gavin B., Wilson Oliver J., Pescott Oliver L. (2022) ROBITT: A tool for assessing the risk-of-bias in studies of temporal trends in ecology. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd,
Pakeman Robin J., Brien David O, Genney David, Brooker Rob W (2022) Identifying drivers of change in bryophyte and lichen species occupancy in Scotland. ,
Farrow Rachel A., Roy Helen E., Brown Peter M. J. (2022) The Rare Five-Spot Ladybird Coccinella quinquepunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Surviving in an Unstable Habitat. ,
Mancini Francesca, Hodgson Jenny A., Isaac Nick J. B. (2022) Co-designing an Indicator of Habitat Connectivity for England. ,
Macgregor Callum J., Bunting Jane, Deutz Pauline, Bourn Nigel A.D., Roy David B., Mayes Will M. (2022) Brownfield sites promote biodiversity at a landscape scale. ,
Greenop Arran, Woodcock Ben A., Outhwaite Charlotte L., Carvell Claire, Pywell Richard F., Mancini Francesca, Edwards François K., Johnson Andrew C., Isaac Nick J.B. (2021) Patterns of invertebrate functional diversity highlight the vulnerability of ecosystem services over a 45-year period. ,
Greenwell Matthew P., Botham Marc S., Bruford Michael W., Day John C., Evans Luke C., Gibbs Melanie, Middlebrook Ian, Roy David B., Watts Kevin, Oliver Tom H. (2021) The influence of chalk grasslands on butterfly phenology and ecology. ,
Pescott Oliver L, Morris David, Roy David B. (2021) Working towards a plant quadrat data repository for Britain and Ireland. ,
Doyle Toby, Hawkes Will L. S., Massy Richard, Powney Gary D., Menz Myles H. M., Wotton Karl R. (2020) Pollination by hoverflies in the Anthropocene. Royal Society,
Maskell Lindsay C., Henrys Peter, Pescott Oliver L., Smart Simon M. (2020) Long-term trends in the distribution, abundance and impact of native “injurious” weeds. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd,