Warwickshire wildlife threatened by extinction
Warwickshire’s wildlife is under threat according to a new book to be published this month by local nature expert David Brown.
’The Larger Moths of Warwickshire’, out today, uses over 150 years worth of data and shows that the vast majority of moth species in our area are declining and some have already become extinct. This means less food for birds and bats and could have a potentially damaging effect on all our wildlife.
The work provides an up to date picture of over 800 types of moth recorded in Warwickshire, Coventry, Solihull and East Birmingham.
A recent national report published by Butterfly Conservation has also revealed a massive decline of moths across the UK, including a 44% loss in the South of England over the past 30 years.
Reasons for the declines include the huge losses of wildlife habitat over the past 60 years in particular, and climate change.
The warmer climate has brought some good news however. Some southern species are becoming more common in the Midlands and a few have been recorded in Warwickshire for the very first time. The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is becoming more common local gardens hovering like a tiny humming bird.
Steven Falk, Senior Keeper of Natural History for Warwickshire County Council assisted in the publication of the book. He said: "There has never been a more important time to monitor local wildlife and see how it is faring with an ever-changing environment.
“It is really important that people help survey local wildlife of all types and pass their data to the county experts like David Brown, who have the expertise to publish books. Those books give an important snapshot in time and will become important reference works in future centuries.”
“Local action is taking place across the county to restore wildlife habitat and conserve some of the most threatened moth species such as the Chalk Carpet which survives at just a couple of old limestone quarries.
“There are many opportunities to become involved with moth recording and moth conservation locally and Warwickshire Museum can direct you to your local experts.”
Warwickshire museum’s regular RINGs newsletter, which can be found on http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/rings, lists forthcoming moth recording evenings and local groups you can join such as the Warwickshire and West Midlands branches of Butterfly Conservation.
The book is published by Atropos and will retail for £35. It can be ordered from local bookshops.