Restoration of butterfly populations in Britain

Published source details Pullin A.S. (1996) Restoration of butterfly populations in Britain. Restoration Ecology, 4, 71-80.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Release captive-bred individuals to the wild Action Link
	Translocate to re-establish populations in known or believed former range Action Link

Release captive-bred individuals to the wild

A review from pre-1900–1988 across the UK and Ireland (Pullin 1996) found that at least a quarter of reintroduced butterfly populations survived for over three years, but only 8% were known to survive for more than 10 years after release. Of 274 documented reintroductions of native butterflies, 68 populations (25%) were known to have survived for more than three years, and 21 (8%) were known to survive for more than 10 years. However, 103 populations (38%) died out within three years of release. The remaining reintroductions were either poorly documented (73 releases) or occurred too recently to determine success (30 releases). Twenty-five releases which aimed to reinforce existing populations are not included. Records of all documented releases of butterflies in the UK and Ireland were compiled by Oates & Warren (1990), and their success up to 10 years after release was updated by this study. At least 29% of releases were of captive-bred butterflies. No further details were provided.
Oates M.R. & Warren M.S. (1990) A review of butterfly reintroductions in Britain and Ireland. Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Insects/World Wildlife Fund, Godalming, United Kingdom.

(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)
Translocate to re-establish populations in known or believed former range

A review from pre-1900–1988 across the UK and Ireland (Pullin 1996) found that at least a quarter of reintroduced butterfly populations survived for over three years, but only 8% were known to survive for more than 10 years after release. Of 274 documented reintroductions of native butterflies, 68 populations (25%) were known to have survived for more than three years, and 21 (8%) were known to survive for more than 10 years. However, 103 populations (38%) died out within three years of release. The remaining reintroductions were either poorly documented (73 releases) or occurred too recently to determine success (30 releases). Twenty-five releases which aimed to reinforce existing populations were not included. Records of all documented releases of butterflies in the UK and Ireland were compiled by Oates & Warren (1990), and their success up to 10 years after release was updated by this study. At least 29% of releases were of captive-bred butterflies. No further details were provided.
Oates M.R. & Warren M.S. (1990) A review of butterfly reintroductions in Britain and Ireland. Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Insects/World Wildlife Fund, Godalming, United Kingdom.

(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)