Month: September 2022

FRAGMENT IN NATURE for the next two weekends looks at changes in British wildlife during the last fifty years. I grew up in the hedgerows, coppices, ponds and streams of an idealized Britain, chasing newts, butterflies, gudgeon, and sticklebacks; but in the space of my lifetime, the abundance, of that rich flora and fauna has dropped by no less than half, with many species disappearing entirely. View in LinkedIn

BRITISH SPECIES LOSSES. "This report documents for the first time the nearly 500 species we’ve lost from England in the recent past. This figure is by no means the true total since, for many species groups like fungi, algae and the marine invertebrates, we don’t know the full extent of those that exist, let alone those that have disappeared." https://lnkd.in/eJjz5aW View in LinkedIn

BRITISH SPECIES LOSSES. "We do know that 12% of land mammals, 22% of amphibians and 24% of our native butterflies have been lost." https://lnkd.in/eJjz5aW View in LinkedIn

ABUNDANCE VS EXTINCTION. Species loss make headlines, but diminished numbers, even local extinctions, do not, that is, until this year. Monoculture, extensive use of fertilizers and chemical poisons, and intensive industrial scale farming have wrought havoc with the British countryside and wildlife, almost unnoticed by the public until recently. Britain is a canary in the coal mine for other European countries. View in LinkedIn

BRITISH SURVEYS. "28% of native plant species have decreased in Britain over the past 40 years, that 54% of native bird species have decreased over 20 years, and that a majority of butterfly species (71% over 20 years) has declined." https://lnkd.in/e5j-V28 View in LinkedIn

BRITISH SURVEYS. "Two (3.4%) butterfly species became extinct in Britain between censuses compared with six (0.4%) native vascular plants over 70 years and no breeding bird species." Based on enormous longitudinal datasets. Number decreases vs species. https://lnkd.in/e5j-V28 View in LinkedIn

STATE OF NATURE REPORT UK (2013). "The report reveals that 60 per cent of the species studied have declined over recent decades. More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether." https://lnkd.in/egeTAuK View in LinkedIn

STATE OF NATURE REPORT UK (2013). "However, the report illustrates that targeted conservation has produced inspiring success stories and, with sufficient determination, resources and public support, we can turn the fortunes of our wildlife around." https://lnkd.in/egeTAuK View in LinkedIn

DECLINING ABUNDANCE. "We have quantitative assessments of the population or distribution trends of 3,148 species. Of these, 60% of species have declined over the last 50 years and 31% have declined strongly." https://lnkd.in/egeTAuK View in LinkedIn

DECLINING ABUNDANCE. "Half of the species assessed have shown strong changes in abundance or distribution, indicating that recent environmental changes are having a dramatic impact on the nature of the UK’s land and seas." https://lnkd.in/egeTAuK View in LinkedIn