Butterflies show signs of being affected by climate change in a way similar to plants and bees

Butterflies fly earlier if the temperature is higher

February 2013. In a new study, Hamilton College Biology Professor Ernest Williams and Boston University researchers have found that butterflies show signs of being affected by climate change in a way similar to plants and bees, but not birds, in the Northeast United States. The researchers focused on Massachusetts butterfly flight periods, comparing current flight periods with patterns going back more than 100 years using museum collections and the records of dedicated citizen scientists. Their findings indicate that butterflies are flying earlier in warmer years.
 

Butterflies emerging earlier

"More and more of the effects of climate change on plants and animals are being discovered," Williams, a co-author of the study, explained. "In this study we found that spring-emerging elfin butterflies in Massachusetts are appearing about eight days earlier than they did 24 years ago and that they are especially sensitive to average temperatures in March and April," he said. "Summer-emerging hairstreak butterflies, on the other hand, are emerging only about three days earlier than they did 24 years ago. The effect of rising temperatures on butterflies is similar to that on plants and bees but greater than that on migratory birds, showing that living organisms respond differently to climate change. This difference can lead to mismatches between some animals and their food supply," Williams noted.

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