This release is available in
German and
Chinese.
Leipzig/Peking/Canberra/Tel Aviv. In future, butterflies in the
People's Republic of China are likely to be monitored using
European monitoring methods. Ecologists from several Chinese
research institutions and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research (UFZ) laid the foundations for this cooperation on Friday.
Experts from China, Germany, Australia and Israel met in Leipzig
from 10 to 14 August to share their experiences in butterfly
conservation and to intensify already existing research
cooperations. The Workshop formed part of the German Chinese Year
of Science and Education 2009/10 organised by the Federal Ministry
of Research and Education (BMBF).
Know-how developed at the UFZ is already being applied in
Australia and Israel, where monitoring networks are being set up.
In Germany the UFZ set up the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme five
years ago together with the German Society for the Conservation of
Butterflies and Moths (GfS). Since then, more than 500 volunteers
have been counting and recording butterflies with a standardised
method all over the country, providing the researchers with
important data on distributions and trends of butterfly populations
as well as information on land use and climate change in order to
assess their impacts on these insects. Butterfly monitoring
originated in Britain, where butterflies have been counted since
1976. The idea has since spread to many other European countries.
Activities throughout Europe are coordinated by the umbrella
organisation "Butterfly Conservation Europe (BCE)". Scientists from
the UFZ were among those who established the BCE.
As butterflies are excellent indicators of the ecological
condition of most terrestrial habitats, the Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research has been working with them for many years in
the context of its biodiversity research focus. Butterflies play a
central role in a large number of international projects and have
enabled major advances to be made in the protection of species
diversity in science and practice. Butterfly monitoring in Germany
was a core theme at the first German-Chinese workshop on
butterflies and moths last week. Based on the experience gained by
the UFZ, the possibility of setting up similar systems in selected
regions in China was discussed. On a series of excursions the
Chinese scientists were shown projects set up to protect endangered
Large Blue butterflies and were given practical field
demonstrations of the monitoring methods. The daily workshop
activities have been described in reports and images in a dedicated
blog in which the BMBF and UFZ introduce the people behind this
initiative and attempt to portray the unique atmosphere of the
workshop. (
http://www.dcjwb.net/de/index.phphttp://www.dcjwb.net/de/index.php;
http://www.dcjwb.net/300.php).
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The Tree Nymph butterfly (Idea
leuconoe) is a large white species with black patterns. It is
widely distributed in Asia and commonly shown in butterfly houses.
The picture shows the...
Click here for more information.
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Since 1978 there are close links between Germany and China in
the fields of Science and Technology. Today, german-chinese
research teams jointly participate in many international projects.
In recent years bilateral universities and research institutions
have been founded. To emphasis the significant role of
german-chinese cooperations in education and research, the
"German-Chinese Year of Science and Education 2009/2010" was
initiated jointly by the German minister of education and research,
Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, the Chinese minister of science and
technology, Prof. Dr. Wan Gang, and the Chinese minister of
education, Prof. Dr. Zhou Ji. The UFZ-Workshop was part of this
programme funded by BMBF.
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However, Europe and, soon, China are not the only places where
volunteers are being brought in to assist scientists with counting
butterflies. In Australia a team of more than 50 people from
universities, nature conservation authorities and environmental
organisations has got together to collect data on a species of
butterfly which faces extinction. The team members systematically
searched for the Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana) in the Australian
summer from September to April. This diurnal moth is critically
endangered, as its habitat - the natural temperate grassland has
shrunk to less than five per cent of its original size in recent
decades. The larvae of the moth is thought to feed exclusively on
Wallaby grass, an original grass species that has declined
dramatically since the introduction of sheep farming by European
settlers and urban expansion in Australia. This pilot project was
presented at the German-Chinese workshop by Anett Richter from the
Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra and the
UFZ. Ms Richter is coordinating the research in Australia and is
currently writing her PhD on the impact of native grassland
fragmentation on insect biodiversity in Australia.
Dr. Guy Pe'er of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
(UFZ) has been publicising the idea in his home country, Israel. As
insects have not been protected before in Israel, the protection of
14 species of rare butterflies on 30 April 2009 has been a major
coup. The Israeli Lepidopterologists' Society hopes that this step
will broaden public awareness of the protection of butterflies and
consequently boost participation in the planned butterfly
monitoring scheme. The monitoring scheme is particularly important
for studying the impacts of climate change both on butterflies and
on fauna general. This is because Israel encompasses a sharp
climatic gradient - with average rainfall ranging from over 1000 mm
in the north to less than 30 mm in the south - and thus it serves
as a major source of migratory butterflies and seasonal
range-shifts in response to climatic triggers. Additionally, with
the East African Rift Valley crossing Israel, it is an important
migratory route not only for birds but also for a variety of
butterflies. The monitoring scheme therefore will have importance
not only for nature conservation in Israel but also potentially
worldwide for identifying links between range-shifts, migrations,
and climate. Guy Pe'er also gave a talk on his work at the
German-Chinese workshop.
SOURCE