Factors affecting the abundance of butterflies in field boundaries in Swavesey fens, Cambridgeshire, UK

Published source details Sparks T. & Parish T. (1995) Factors affecting the abundance of butterflies in field boundaries in Swavesey fens, Cambridgeshire, UK. Biological Conservation, 73, 221-227.
Share Tweet Email

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Leave uncropped, cultivated margins or plots Action Link
	Manage hedgerows to benefit wildlife (e.g. no spray, gap-filling and laying) Action Link
	Reduce fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide use generally Action Link

Leave uncropped, cultivated margins or plots

A replicated, randomized, site comparison study in 1986 and 1991 at a farmland and grassland site in Cambridgeshire, UK (Sparks & Parish 1995) found that butterfly abundance and species richness were higher in fields with wider margins between crops in one year but there was no difference in the other year. In 1986, but not in 1991, there was higher butterfly abundance and richness in fields where margins between crops were wider (data presented as statistical results). See paper for details of the effects on individual butterfly species. From May–September in 1986 and 1991, butterflies were surveyed up to once/month in fine weather on ninety-nine 200 m transects along margins between fields of any combination of arable farmland and grassland. Each transect was surveyed 2–4 times in both years. Margin width was measured in both years.

(Summarised by: Eleanor Bladon)
Manage hedgerows to benefit wildlife (e.g. no spray, gap-filling and laying)

A replicated, randomized, site comparison study in 1986 and 1991 at a farmland and grassland site in Cambridgeshire, UK (Sparks & Parish 1995) found that butterfly abundance and species richness were higher in fields with larger hedgerows in one year but there was no difference in the other year. In 1991, but not in 1986, abundance and richness were higher in fields with hedges of greater volume (data presented as statistical results). See paper for details of the effects on individual butterfly species. From May–September in 1986 and 1991, butterflies were surveyed up to once/month in fine weather on ninety-nine 200 m transects along margins between fields of any combination of arable farmland and grassland. Each transect was surveyed 2–4 times in both years. Hedge volume was measured in both years and calculated by multiplying height, width and length measurements.

(Summarised by: Eleanor Bladon)
Reduce fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide use generally

A replicated, randomized, site comparison study in 1991 at a farmland and grassland site in Cambridgeshire, UK (Sparks & Parish, 1995) found that there was higher butterfly abundance and species richness in areas that had been treated less frequently with herbicide in the previous three years, but abundance and species richness were not affected by the number of pesticide applications in the surveying year itself. Butterfly abundance and species richness increased with a decrease in the number of times that the adjacent fields had been treated with herbicide in the previous three years (data presented as statistical results). Peacock butterfly Inachis io abundance particularly increased with decreased herbicide applications (data presented as statistical results). However, neither overall butterfly abundance nor richness was affected by the number of pesticide applications in the surveying year itself (1991). See paper for details of the effects on individual butterfly species. From May–September 1991, butterflies were surveyed up to once/month in fine weather on twenty-six 200 m transects along margins between fields of any combination of arable farmland and grassland. Each transect was surveyed 2–4 times in both years. The researchers obtained data on the total number of applications of herbicide in 1989–1991 and pesticide in 1991 in the fields adjacent to the surveyed margins.

(Summarised by: Eleanor Bladon)