Effects of coppicing on butterfly communities of woodlands
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Published source details
Fartmann T., Müller C. & Poniatowski D. (2013) Effects of coppicing on butterfly communities of woodlands. Biological Conservation, 159, 396-404.
Published source details Fartmann T., Müller C. & Poniatowski D. (2013) Effects of coppicing on butterfly communities of woodlands. Biological Conservation, 159, 396-404.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Coppice woodland Action Link |
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Coppice woodland
A replicated, site comparison study in 2010 in five woodlands in the Alsacian Hardt, France (Fartmann et al. 2013) found that recently coppiced woodland had a higher abundance and species richness of butterflies than older coppiced woodland, and that coppiced woodland of different ages had distinct groups of species. Two years after coppicing, woodland had a higher abundance and species richness of resident (abundance: 6 individuals/100 m2; richness: 11 species/plot) and threatened (abundance: 1.8 individuals/100 m2; richness: 4 species/plot) butterflies than woodland which had not been coppiced for >15 years (resident: 1 individual/100 m2; 4 species/plot; threatened: 0.2 individuals/100 m2; 1 species/plot). Coppiced woodland had a higher abundance of migratory butterflies one (1.2 individuals/100 m2) and two years (1.1 individuals/100 m2) after coppicing than >15 years after coppicing (0.2 individuals/100 m2). However, all five ages of coppiced plots held distinct groups of species (data presented as model results). Across five woodlands (140–1,303 ha), 37 coppiced plots (1–3 ha, 31–41-year coppice cycle) in one of five stages (first year, second year, 3–7 years, 8–15 years and >15 years after coppicing) were surveyed. From May–August 2010, butterflies were surveyed seven times in a 20 × 25 m area in the centre of each plot.
(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)
