What can sown wildflower strips contribute to butterfly conservation?: An example from a Swiss lowland agricultural landscape
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Published source details
Haaland C. & Bersier L.-F. (2011) What can sown wildflower strips contribute to butterfly conservation?: An example from a Swiss lowland agricultural landscape. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 301-309.
Published source details Haaland C. & Bersier L.-F. (2011) What can sown wildflower strips contribute to butterfly conservation?: An example from a Swiss lowland agricultural landscape. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 301-309.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Maintain species-rich, semi-natural grassland Action Link |
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Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips Action Link |
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Maintain species-rich, semi-natural grassland
A replicated, site comparison study in 2008 in a lowland agricultural landscape in Kanton Fribourg, Switzerland (Haaland & Bersier 2011) found that extensively managed meadows had a lower abundance of butterflies, but a similar species richness and a different community composition, compared to sown wildflower strips. The abundance of butterflies in extensively managed meadows (0.12 individuals/m) was lower than in sown wildflower strips (0.29 individuals/m), but the species richness was similar in meadows (0.05 species/m) and wildflower strips (0.07 species/m). The species composition was different between the two habitats, with six of 25 species observed most frequently in the meadows and seven species occurring only in wildflower strips. None of the five rarest species in the region were recorded in either the meadows or wildflower strips. See paper for details on individual species. Eleven meadows (0.21–1.64 ha) were cut at least twice/year after mid-June. Twenty-five wildflower strips (0.15–1.16 ha) were sown with a standard seed mixture of 24 plant species, and were 1–7 years old. From May–September 2008, butterflies were surveyed once/month on a transect through the middle of each meadow (85–310 m) or wildflower strip (70–450 m).
(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)
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Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips
A replicated, site comparison study in 2008 in a lowland agricultural landscape in Kanton Fribourg, Switzerland (Haaland & Bersier 2011) found that sown wildflower strips had a higher abundance of butterflies, but a similar species richness and a different community composition, compared to extensively managed meadows. The abundance of butterflies in sown wildflower strips (0.29 individuals/m) was higher than in extensively managed meadows (0.12 individuals/m), but the species richness was similar in wildflower strips (0.07 species/m) and meadows (0.05 species/m). The species composition was different between the two habitats, with seven of 25 species occurring only in wildflower strips, and six species observed most frequently in the meadows. None of the five rarest species in the region were recorded in wildflower strips or meadows. See paper for details on individual species. Twenty-five wildflower strips (0.15–1.16 ha) were sown with a standard seed mixture of 24 plant species, and were 1–7 years old. Eleven meadows (0.21–1.64 ha) were cut at least twice/year after mid-June. From May–September 2008, butterflies were surveyed once/month on a transect through the middle of each wildflower strip (70–450 m) or meadow (85–310 m).
(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)
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