Moths moving to higher altitude 'cos of Glob Warming

[Hobjob]

Climate change pushes moths up mountain | Natural History Museum

Populations of moths living on a mountain in Borneo have moved uphill by more than 60m over the last 40 years, new research shows today.

This is the first demonstration that climate change is affecting the distribution of tropical insects, the most numerous group of animals on Earth.

The new research, led by the University of York, repeated a survey that was originally carried out in 1965 by a three-student team from Cambridge. Their expedition took them 3,675m above sea level up Mount Kinabalu in the Malaysian State of Sabah, where they trapped and identified moths.

[Wild-Woman]

I think we're going to see a lot more insects migrating to different areas and altitudes as climate change kicks in. It's a case of adapt or die.

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

I think we're going to see a lot more insects migrating to different areas and altitudes as climate change kicks in. It's a case of adapt or die.

.... and not just in tropical areas. I live in the Yorkshire Dales about 380m above sea level and over the last ten years a number of butterfly species which were previously confined to the valleys have started breeding up here. None of them are rare - things like Orange Tip, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Comma and a few others. Now most of you probably take these for granted but they simply didn't breed this high up in the past. It's still a bit precarious for them, the last couple of poor summers have been a real setback for them - numbers were really low last summer and only time will tell whether the populations have really become established.

On the other hand it looks like we might be losing our population of Northern Brown Argus. We're probably getting to be too low down or too far south for them now.

[Fauna]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

.... and not just in tropical areas. I live in the Yorkshire Dales about 380m above sea level and over the last ten years a number of butterfly species which were previously confined to the valleys have started breeding up here. None of them are rare - things like Orange Tip, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Comma and a few others. Now most of you probably take these for granted but they simply didn't breed this high up in the past. It's still a bit precarious for them, the last couple of poor summers have been a real setback for them - numbers were really low last summer and only time will tell whether the populations have really become established.

On the other hand it looks like we might be losing our population of Northern Brown Argus. We're probably getting to be too low down or too far south for them now.

I believe the same is happening to the Small pearl-bordered frits here in the South Wales valleys. It has been noted by our county recorder that the species has been disapearing from the lower ground, habitat still suitable. The exsiting colonise are on higher ground, but if you go on up even higher than these exsiting colonise the habitat is very little or not at all.

[Wild-Woman]

The less visible, or less 'noticed' insects may disappear before we realised they'd been there. Certain gall-flies that rely solely on a particular species of plant that in turn rely on certain conditions and favourable habitat may be at the edge of their range. This was pointed out to me as low down as here on the banks of the Thames. As climate change resets a different water level, plants that live just above the tide, are retreating further up the sea-walls. As the water levels rise, the plants will eventually have no where to go. Loss of plants= loss of galls=loss of parasitoids. Whole eco-system gone without us realising it.

[Hoppingmad]

Originally Posted by Hobjob

Climate change pushes moths up mountain | Natural History Museum

Populations of moths living on a mountain in Borneo have moved uphill by more than 60m over the last 40 years, new research shows today.

This is the first demonstration that climate change is affecting the distribution of tropical insects, the most numerous group of animals on Earth.

The new research, led by the University of York, repeated a survey that was originally carried out in 1965 by a three-student team from Cambridge. Their expedition took them 3,675m above sea level up Mount Kinabalu in the Malaysian State of Sabah, where they trapped and identified moths.

That's interesting but worrying. Sounds like the moths may be adapting but makes you wonder whether larger species perhaps with very specific needs will be able to.

Thanks for posting link.

Debbie