Nature Conservation Areas No Haven for Butterflies
What do the brimstone, meadow brown and small heath butterfly species have in common? All of them are rather habitat specialists, with no specific ecological demands, they tend to have modest requirements when it comes to habitats and larval host plants. They are also more resistant to nitrogen pollution than sensitive habitat specialists, which are going extinct - even in nature conservation areas.
A collaborative research study carried out by the Technical University Munich (TUM) and Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (ZSM) confirms the species loss of past decades and the modest effectiveness of nature and species conservation.
The study is based on one of the longest observation series ever carried out. Species lists and butterfly collections from 1840 until today were evaluated. All of the data were provided by lepidopterologists, i.e. butterfly researchers, from areas around the city of Regensburg in Bavaria. The southern slopes along the Danube there mainly consist of rare oligotrophic grasslands and, accordingly, oligotrophic biotopes for butterflies and other insects. Around 45 hectares of land there have been designated as a conservation area since 1992.
http://www.sciencenewsline.com/news/2016031801100064.html
