Butterflies thrive in grasslands surrounded by forest

February 4, 2019, Linköping University

For pollinating butterflies, it is more important to be close to forests than to agricultural fields, according to a study of 32,000 butterflies by researchers at Linköping University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala. The results provide important knowledge about how to plan and manage the landscape to ensure the survival of butterflies.

Semi-natural grasslands are one of Sweden's most species-rich habitats, with a multitude of plants and butterflies. However, the amount of these areas has been reduced by 90% in the past 100 years. Semi-natural grasslands are often preserved as just small fragments in the landscape. Their loss has led to many species of butterfly being decimated, and in some cases eliminated from parts of Sweden. The researchers who carried out the new study, published in the scientific journal Landscape Ecology, have investigated how the landscape around these fragments influences different species of butterfly in southern Sweden. A total of 32,000 butterflies from 77 species were found.

"Several of our results are really exciting, and demonstrate that the species richness of semi-natural grasslands is influenced by other factors than the properties of the grasslands themselves. The surrounding landscape is also important for butterflies. If the semi-natural grasslands are embedded within large regions of arable land, the number of species is reduced", says Karl-Olof Bergman, senior lecturer in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, IFM.

The species richness of butterflies was in general greater in locations where large areas of semi-natural grasslands lay within 10-20 kilometres around the studied semi-natural grassland. Another important landscape feature linked to a larger number of butterfly species was if the grasslands were surrounded by forest.

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New Species of Ancient Rodents Hint at What Could Be World's Oldest Grasslands

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2012) — A paleontological team that includes scientists from the American Museum of Natural History; University of California, Santa Barbara; and Case Western Reserve University has described two ancient species of South American rodents, including the oldest chinchilla, a discovery that substantiates what might be the earliest grasslands in the world. The two new species lived near a chain of volcanoes about 32.5 million years ago in what are now the steep slopes of a river valley in the Chilean Andes. Studies of the teeth of the ancient chinchilla support evidence from other species in the concurrent fauna indicating that the animals inhabited an open and dry environment 15 million years before grasslands emerged elsewhere in the world.

The research is published this week in American Museum Novitates, a peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Museum of Natural History.

"The new chinchilla fossil provides important new evidence that early rodents joined other South American mammals in evolving ways to cope with an abrasive diet long before horses, sheep and other mammal groups on other continents 'invented' similar adaptations for making their teeth wear out more slowly while eating tough grasses," said John Flynn, Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals and dean of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History, who is a co-author of the paper.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120723134749.htm

11 hectares of meadow bought by Oxford Wildlife Trust

SAVED! Appeal for Oxfordshire wildlife site reaches target in time

July 2012. The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has reached its target to buy Upper Common, one of the most precious pieces of grassland in west Oxfordshire, which will now be restored as a beautiful wildflower meadow.

“We had just six weeks to save this vital 11 hectare site on the edge of Chimney Meadows nature reserve, and we’ve met our overall total of £167,000 already,” says Neil Clennell, Head of Conservation and Education for Oxfordshire. “I’d like to thank everyone who has given so generously to this appeal.”

The restoration of Upper Common as a wildflower meadow will be achieved using seed from flower-filled hay meadows on Chimney Meadows nature reserve next door. “We have often looked longingly across the fence, never thinking that we would be offered the chance to own this land. Upper Common now completes an area naturally enclosed by the River Thames and the Great Brook, and offers great potential for wildlife.” says Neil.

“We know that otters lie up here on their travels, and we’ve seen signs of water voles on the banks of ditches. We’ll start work as soon as possible to give a safer habitat for these much-loved creatures.”

Almost 10 years ago BBOWT took a leap of faith and bought Chimney Farm in west Oxfordshire with extraordinary support from a public appeal. As a result Chimney Meadows is now the Wildlife Trust’s biggest nature reserve, and habitat restoration across 70 hectares has made this one of the largest areas of unspoilt neutral grassland in England.  

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/upper-common.html#cr