Insects at Bath City Farm are climate change ‘early warning system’. The species, which are now common occurrences in Somerset, would have been rarities sixty miles south on the English coastline.
by Wagamaga
Insects at Bath City Farm are climate change ‘early warning system’. The species, which are now common occurrences in Somerset, would have been rarities sixty miles south on the English coastline.
by Wagamaga
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Ecologist and Trustee, Mike Williams, who has led the wildlife recording, said: “Insects are important indicator species that help ecologists understand the realities of a changing climate on our natural world.
“Spiders are a classic example as due to their short lifespan and mobility they react to changes in weather.
“Three years ago, the elegant Wasp Spider was recorded on the Farm for the first time ever and is now increasingly common in the area.
“In the early 1990s I only ever saw the Wasp Spider on the south coast of England, in Dorset.
“This was at the extreme north of their range because it was too cold for them. I would never have imagined then that one day they would be found as far north as Bath as we live with the realities of climate change.”
Butterflies at the farm were severely impacted by the dry spring and wet summer with fewer numbers recorded this year.
The Red Admiral has bucked the trend because fewer cold snaps and frosts have seen these summer migrants overwintering in the UK and breeding in the springtime which has led to greater numbers.