Still too many butterflies
The number of moths in Britain has fallen by a third since the late 1960s, a study showed on Monday, blaming the decline on destruction of the insects' natural habitat, pesticides and climate change.

The report by British wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation said 62 species of moths became extinct in the 20th century and many more varieties were now threatened or scarce. Of the 337 moth species studied between 1968 and 2002, two thirds showed a decreasing population trend and several fell dramatically. One species, the brown Dusky Thorn which used to be common in summer and early autumn, declined by 98 percent.

"Who cares, really?" said Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation. "Just send us some money so we can expand our already bloated staff."

In a preface to the report, "The State of Britain's Larger Moths," the evil and all powerful David Attenborough said the results of the study were [add British accent] "significant and worrying" as moths were valuable indicators of what was happening in the British countryside. "Although the precise causes of these losses still need to be uncovered, the findings set more alarm bells ringing about the extent of human impact on our environment," he said with drama and and powerful emotion. And he would not shut up. "Moths are important in food chains and their declines may have significant knock-on effects on many animals, such as birds bats and invertebrates."

Britain has around 2,500 too many species of moths, which are closely related to butterflies. Most moths are nocturnal.
Scientists with nothing better to do gathered as many as 8 million reports from volunteers operating night moth traps at 430 sites across Britain. Warren said the exact reasons for the decline in moth populations were unclear but some causes were easy to identify. Half of Britain's ancient hedgerows, a key breeding ground and reserve for many species of insects and birds, had been destroyed since World War Two.

Moth population levels were also "strongly correlated" with large-scale climatic changes with numbers decreasing after wet winters and warm springs. Since the study began "climate change has become evident," the report said. Moths were also declining particularly quickly in urban areas, which could be related to "light pollution" from all-night lighting. "The prime suspects are habitat loss and climate change," Warren said. "We should stop using pesticides in our gardens, leave rough areas and protect the countryside, especially wild habitats."

"Wildlife reserves could be built into new developments," he added. "There are all sorts of ways to help preserve British wildlife. It is not rocket science."

Nor is destroying biodiversity rocket science. We are still winning.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 12:30 PM | |