High-intensity
agriculture reduces number of butterfly species in adjacent areas
Date: March 20, 2019
Source: Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Meadows
adjacent to high-intensity agricultural areas are home to less than half the
number of butterfly species than areas in nature preserves. The number of
individuals is even down to one-third of that number. These are results of a
research team led by Jan Christian Habel at the Technical University of Munich
(TUM) and Thomas Schmitt at the Senckenberg Nature Research Society.
Germany
is home to roughly 33,500 species of insects -- but their numbers are
decreasing dramatically. Of the 189 species of butterflies currently known from
Germany, 99 species are on the Red List, 5 have already become extinct, and 12
additional species are threatened with extinction.
Now a
team led by Prof. Jan-Christian Habel of the Department of Terrestrial Ecology
of the Technical University of Munich and Prof. Thomas Schmitt, Director of the
Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Muencheberg in Brandenburg, has
examined the specific effects of the intensity of agricultural use on the
butterfly fauna.
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