UK Impacts Flashcards
How has species abundance changed in the UK using the survey approach?
Moth abundance has declined by 31%
Specialist butterfly abundance has decreased by 18%
Generalist butterfly abundance has increased by 10%
Common breeding birds has decreased by 14%
Mammals have decreased by 7%
How have plant species changed in the UK using the survey approach?
Vascular plants have decreased by 16%
Bryophtes (moss) have decreased by 19%
Lichens have increased by 15% (but recovery has been skewed to nitrogen loving species)
How much have priority species declined since 1970?
37%
Less of a decrease in the last 20 years due to conservation efforts
What is the biggest reason for the decrease in species using the survey approach?
Intensive agriculture e.g. pesticides, herbicides and an increase and more intense livestock grazing
What does biodiversity intactness show in the UK?
Very few areas are >90% intact
Similar levels of intactness everywhere in the countryside
UK biodiversity harmed to similar levels everywhere
What experiments can use to simulate future climates?
Field manipulation experiments
What were the two sites used for the field manipulation experiments?
Buxton, Derbyshire:
Ancient pasture with low fertility
Wytham, Oxfordshire:
More fertile, early successional
What were the study factors for the field manipulation experiments?
Resistance = ability of the plant community to maintain composition and biomass
Resilience = the rate of recovery
What was concluded about the field manipulation experiments?
Buxton did not really respond to treatments (increase temp, increased and decreased rainfall) and biomass remained constant
Wytham was very responsive to rain treatments (more rain = more biomass, drought = less biomass)
Wytham changed community composition every year but Buxton did not
Buxton more resilient to climate change
What communities will respond more to climate change?
Early successional, fertile communities of fast growing, short-lived species will respond rapidly to climate change
More mature, less fertile communities will respond more slowly
