Whether
it was a bungalow or a burrow, the second wettest year on record saw families
flooded out of their homes across the country.
But
for the smallest victims of 2012's extreme weather, the stakes are higher than
simply insurance claims: they mean the future survival of species.
Conservationists
now face an anxious wait to find out how a population of endangered Tansy
beetles have fared following their relocation from the banks of the River Ouse
in York due to last year's floods.
But
for those with less interest in "creepy crawlies", what impact can
the loss of a few invertebrates have on our wildlife as a whole?
Bad
for butterflies
As
president of the charity Butterfly Conservation, Sir David Attenborough warned
last year that 2012 would present a struggle for many species.
This
week the charity will release details from its annual Wider Countryside
Butterfly Survey but after what they call a "washout" year, the
findings could be bleak.
"Butterflies
like to fly generally on nice, warm sunny days and if it's a nice, warm, sunny
day they can mate and lay their eggs," says the survey's co-ordinator Dr
Zoe Randle.
Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20987004
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