High
brown fritillary population rises due to harsh winter and sunny spring
Mon
2 Jul 2018 00.01 BST
The combination of a harsh winter and sunny May and June has given the population of the UK’s most endangered butterfly, the high brown fritillary, a welcome boost.
Volunteers
have been counting rare butterflies in a wooded valley on the Devon coast,
which has been the focus of a project to encourage species such as the high
brown fritillary.
Matthew
Oates, a National Trust volunteer and one of the UK’s leading butterfly
experts, said: “The butterfly seems to be having a very good year, with over
200 seen during the count.
“Ideal
weather conditions; a cold and harsh winter, which has helped knock back the
bracken and then a warm and sunny May and June have been ideal for caterpillar
development.
“As
we are having some fairly dry weather, it’s now the perfect time for seeing
this large and powerful butterfly.”
Conservationists
believe changes to woodland management, such as the abandonment of coppicing,
have contributed to the steep decline of the large, fast-flying butterfly over
the past 50 years.
The
National Trust has been given £100,000 by the People’s Postcode Lottery to
improve 60 hectares (150 acres) of lowland heath and wood pasture at Heddon
Valley in north Devon as a habitat for the butterfly.
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