No abstract

BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

The microclimate of an improved hay meadow was studied using Tinytag dataloggers to record sward temperature after cutting. Temperatures in the sward were then compared to grasshopper abundances to see if mowing created an excessively hot microclimate unfavourable for sustained grasshopper activity in mid summer. The abundance of Chorthippus albomarginatus and Chorthippus parallelus was significantly reduced on the hay plots compared to the unmanaged control swards, which may have been due to high sward temperatures created by the absence of tall, shady vegetation in which grasshoppers may take refuge to avoid overheating. This study suggests that a combination of mortality caused by the physical process of mowing, and high sward temperatures created by removal of the standing crop by cutting may cause the low abundance of grasshoppers in improved grassland in eastern England. This research is particularly important when considering the orthopteran assemblages of Environmental Stewardship Scheme field margins where mowing for hay in July and August may seriously reduce grasshopper populations. If mowing of grassland has to occur during the grasshopper season, we suggest a later cut in September or a system of rotational mowing, leaving areas of uncut grassland as shelter

BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

The glow‐worm Lampyris noctiluca (Linnaeus, 1767) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) is thought to be declining in the United Kingdom. Yet, much of the evidence for this is anecdotal, with a shortage of standardised long‐term data to investigate temporal changes in abundance. We present an 18‐year time series of standardised transect surveys for glowing adult females at 19 sites within south‐east England (Essex) from 2001 to 2018. We used generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs) to control for varying sampling effort, temporal autocorrelation, non‐stationarity of seasonal phenology and non‐linearity of temporal trajectories across sites. We found a significant long‐term reduction in counts of glowing female glow‐worms, after accounting for a significant shift in seasonal phenology across years, and a negative effect of warmer climatic conditions on glow‐worm abundance. Average glowing counts in south‐east England declined by ca. −3.5% per annum from 2001 to 2018, and this result held true even after a range of sensitivity tests to account for potential methodological artefacts in citizen science data collection. Temporal trajectories in abundance were strikingly out of phase across the 19 sites, suggesting that local‐scale factors in addition to climate are driving greater reduction in numbers at some sites than others. These standardised surveys present the first quantitative evidence that numbers of glow‐worms could well be declining in the United Kingdom. There is a clear signal of climate warming and drying effects on glow‐worm numbers, but a substantially greater proportion of variation in glowing female counts is explained by local‐scale site factors, such as unmanaged scrub encroachment. Conservation strategies that can mitigate local population losses could be an essential buffer against climate‐driven declines in south‐east England.

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Orthoptera are an important biological component of grasslands as a crucial link in the food chain. Grazing, either by wild animals or livestock for human food production, exerts considerable influence on the Orthoptera of grasslands. For example, grazing prevents succession of open grasslands to scrub and forest, creates heterogeneity in sward height, and provides patches of bare earth through the action of livestock hooves breaking the vegetative cover. Grazing may also interact with other forms of grassland management such as burning to produce quite complex interactions which vary greatly between regions and Orthoptera species. Threats to grassland Orthoptera include overgrazing; conversely, abandonment of grazing can lead to the loss of open habitats vital to many species. It is important to have ungrazed areas to provide refuges for species negatively affected by grazing. Rotational management -moving domestic livestock between different pastures -will also allow a range of sward structures to develop over a landscape. The over-arching principle for grazing management should be to establish a heterogeneous sward with a range of sward heights and bare earth for oviposition/basking. In more extensive systems, patches of scrub can form habitat of woody vegetation for species such as bush crickets. The greatest diversity of habitats should provide the highest species richness.

No abstract