anise swallowtail & purplish copper

[Cris Guppy or Aud Fischer]

Many thanks Neil!

I will investigate the references you suggest.

Cris Guppy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil Jones" <Neil at NWJONES.DEMON.CO.UK>
To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 3:20 PM
Subject: Re: anise swallowtail & purplish copper


> In article <00ad01c09bcf$225f9980$4ddcc2cf at nysven>
>            cguppy at quesnelbc.com "Cris Guppy or Aud Fischer" writes:
>
> > Neil,
> >
> > Given that you live in Britain, and obvious know much more than I about
> > butterflies there, you are likely to be more correct than I. The
reference
> > on which I based my statement is:
> >
> > Thomas, J.A. 1984. Conservation of butterflies in temperate countries:
Past
> > efforts and lessons for the future. Pp. 333-53 in The Biology of
> > Butterflies. Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society of London
Number
> > 11, edited by R.I. Vane-Wright and P.R. Ackery. London: Academic Press.
xxiv
> > + 429 pp.
> >
> > I would welcome suggestions of more recent references that I should
consult
> > for a better understanding of the success/failure of introduction
attempts.
> >
> > Cris Guppy.
>
> Thanks for that Cris. I have my own copy of the book to hand.
> Jeremy Thomas is one of our best known experts here.
> He does mention a list of "introductions known to the author".
> He also mentions some of the species where it has succeeded.
> This can at first glance give the impression that introductions work.
>
> There are some problems with drawing the conclusion you have from this
paper
> which is a general one on conservation not just on releases
>
> 1 He happens to list some of the species which are
> exceptions to the general rule such as Strymondia pruni The Black
Hairstreak.
> This species seems to take very well but is not typical.
>
> 2. He doesn't give any weight to the failures.
>
> 3. His list of successes includes some where support releasing has taken
> place.
>
> The other problem I think is that the paper is rather old and research
> has moved on. I don't think Jeremy Thomas would say the same things if
> he were writing it today. For example the table on minimum viable colony
areas
> is perhaps not really so valid today in the light of modern metapopulation
theory.
> I would think that he would certainly be very aware of this, not least
> because his younger brother, Chris Thomas, is one of the leading
researchers
> in the field of butterfly metapopulation study.
>
> The section on genetic deterioration is another example. There was a paper
> on the Glanville Fritillary (Mellitea cinxia) in Nature written by
> some of the experts from Helsinki  few years ago which might have led him
to
> different conclusions.
>
> I don't deny that some introductions fail because of habitat changes, but
the
> truth is that they can fail even when things seem to be done perfectly.
> In one failed case I know the turf from the original site was actually
> moved to the new site before the butterflies were introduced!
>
> Ecology is complicated. This makes the conservation of butterflies a
> complicated subject. (Perhaps that is why I like it. What is the point
> of studying something simple!)
>
> For a better source of information on the success rates might be
> Oates M. R. and Warren M. S. 1190 a Review of Butterfly introductions
> in Britain and Ireland. Published by the Nature Conservancy Council.
>
> Or Martin Warren's paper in the Ecology of Butterflies in Britain
> edited by Roger L.H. Dennis. published in 1992 by Oxford University Press
> This presents the main data. If you look at the results. Out of 323
> releases there were only 12 introductions which had lasted 10 years or
> over. 9 of these were for just three species and I know from the
> author that the 3 of these have all subsequently died out (All the same
> species and all the over ten year survivals for that species.)
>
>
> --
> Neil Jones- Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.nwjones.demon.co.uk/
> "At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
> butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn Bog
> National Nature Reserve
>
>
>
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