Contrasting fortunes for Ireland’s butterfly populations
A new publication drawn from more than 400,000 records shows the decline and expansion of some butterfly populations across Ireland.
The newly published ‘Atlas of Butterflies’ provides a comprehensive account of Ireland’s butterflies and features contributions by 6,500 individuals.
The Atlas assesses key trends in butterfly populations over the period between 2010 and 2021.
The Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Green-veined White, Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood are the five most widespread species of butterflies recorded across the island of Ireland.
The Comma butterfly has shown the largest expansion in range since it was first recorded in Wexford in 2000. It is now common in the southern part of the country.
16 resident species showed no significant change in distribution, while 9 decreased in range with the most dramatic being that of the Wall species.
It has died out from large parts of the midlands, and is becoming increasing confined to coastal habitats.
Research shows that whilst changing environmental conditions results in more favourable habitat conditions for a small number of resident species, it primarily creates conditions that are less favourable, leading to the decline in many species of butterflies in Ireland.
Launching ‘Atlas of Butterflies in Ireland’ and another publication, the ‘Handbook for the Irish Vegetation Classification’, Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, said, “Collaboration is the key to building a strong evidence base for biodiversity. These publications demonstrate that a dedicated recorder community coupled with sound science can support decision making in biodiversity, including our National Restoration Plan which requires us to reverse declines in our pollinators by 2030.”
Dr Liam Lysaght, Director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre said, “Both publications were only possible to produce because of the huge amount of data and information collected by scientists and citizen scientists over the year, all expertly synthesised by national experts supported by our partner organisations. These publications will make a valuable contribution to delivering on evidence-based actions to help biodiversity, particularly in the context of the forthcoming National Restoration Plan.”
For more information about the changing fortunes of Irish butterflies, summaries and images of species visit biodiversityireland.ie/top10/changing-fortunes-of-irelands-butterflies.
