Introduction
In a research project based in the Picos de Europa in northern Spain, funded by the Boston-based Earthwatch Institute, John Dover, with colleagues from Staffordshire University, Alterra (Netherlands), the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Basel, Switzerland, and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire, has been looking at land-use change in the hay meadows, using butterfly and orchid distribution as indicators of change.
Background and context
Mountain landscapes in Europe have been influenced by human activities for thousands of years. Modern farming practices and the lure of city life are leading to farm abandonment in the higher regions. Ancient pastures with amazing biodiversity are becoming overgrown and reverting back to forest. The project sought to study these changes in a region of northern Spain, the Picos de Europa, using butterflies and orchids as indicators.
Summary of project research
Fieldwork by volunteers and investigators included botanical surveying, mapping the study site using Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and mark-release-recapture of butterflies. Volunteers came from all over the world, paying to participate in the research or being sponsored by companies including HSBC and Diageo.
The Spanish researchers have been investigating the socio-economic reasons for and impacts of land-use change, interviewing local farmers and businesses.
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Project impact
Publication of results is still on-going. Eventually it is hoped that the results will influence European policy on agri-environment schemes. Without government intervention it is probable that mountain landscapes will be changed forever, with resulting reduction of biodiversity, due to land abandonment and intensification of farming practices.
Publications and reports
Dover, J.W.; Spencer, S.; Collins S.; Hadjigeorgiou I. & Rescia. A. (2011) Grassland butterflies and low intensity farming in Europe. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 129-137.
Dover, J.W.; Rescia, A.; Fungariño, S.; Fairburn, J.; Carey, P.; Lunt, P.; Arnot, C.; Dennis, R.L.H. & Dover, C.J. (2011) Land-use, environment, and their impact on butterfly populations in a mountainous pastoral landscape: species richness and family-level abundance. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 523-538.
Dover, J.W.; Rescia, A.; Fungariño, S.; Fairburn, J.; Carey, P.; Lunt, P.; Arnot, C.; Dennis, R.L.H. & Dover, C.J. (2011) Land-use, environment, and their impact on butterfly populations in a mountainous pastoral landscape: individual species distribution and abundance. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 207-220.
Rescia, A.J.; Fungariño, S.G. & Dover, J.W. (2010) Reactivación del sistema socioecológico ganadero de Picos de Europa (norte de España)/ Recovery of social-ecologial livestock farming system of the Picos de Europa (northern Spain). Ecosistemas 19(2): 137-145.
Dover, J.W.; Rescia, A.; Fungariño, S.; Fairburn, J.; Carey, P.; Lunt, P.; Dennis, R.L.H. & Dover, C.J. (2010) Can hay harvesting detrimentally affect adult butterfly abundance? Journal of Insect Conservation 14: 413-418.
Rescia, A.J.; Pons, A. Lomba, I.; Esteban, C. & Dover, J.W. (2008) Reformulating the socio-ecological system in a cultural rural mountain landscape in Picos de Europa region (northern Spain). Landscape and Urban Planning 88: 23-33.
Dover, J., Carey, P., Lunt, P., Rescia, A., Fairburn, J., Fungarino, S., Lang, A., Arnot, C., Pons, A., Esteban, C., Lomba, I. and Garcia, S. (2007) Butterflies and orchid distribution in the Deva Valley, Picos de Europa, Spain. In J.J. Hopkins et al. (ed.) High Value Grasslands: providing biodiversity, a clean environment and premium products. Proceedings of the British Grasslands Society Conference, University of Keele.
Dover, J.W. & Fairburn, J. (2005) Butterfly distribution maps for
Fuente de, Picos de Europa, Spain, 2003-4. Unpublished report, Staffordshire
University, Stoke-on-Trent.