Increased abundance of the red admiral butterfly Vanessa atalanta in Britain: the roles of immigration, overwintering and breeding within the country

Pollard,; Greatorex-Davies,

doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.1998.00001.x

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(3 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Regular monitoring, together with circumstantial observations, suggests that most of the butterflies produced in source areas of northern and central Europe, emigrate to the Mediterranean region in autumn (Pollard & Greatorex‐Davies, 1998). Although there are records of overwintering adults at northern latitudes (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there are records of overwintering adults at northern latitudes (e.g. Archer‐Lock, 1989; Emmet & Heath, 1990), it is generally assumed that overwintering is rare and has a negligible effect on numbers in the following season (Pollard & Greatorex‐Davies, 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They acknowledged that uncertainties over the overwintering biology of V. atalanta constrained their ability to draw conclusions. Using data from the British Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, Pollard & Greatorex‐Davies (1998) analysed the trend of increased abundance of V. atalanta in Britain from 1976 to 1996. They suggested that this trend was probably due to increased immigration from southern areas in spring, but lack of knowledge on the precise location of source areas prevented them from reaching more definite conclusions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The nature of migration in the red admiral butterflyVanessa atalanta: evidence from the population ecology in its southern range

Stefanescu¹

2001

Ecological Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary 1. The migrant Vanessa atalanta (L.) occurs throughout Europe and North Africa. In autumn, populations emigrate from northern and central Europe to the Mediterranean region to overwinter. In the spring, the northern range is recolonised by migrants from the south. The dynamics of the species in the winter range is poorly known. 2. From 1994 to 1999, adults and immatures of V. atalanta were monitored all year round in Mediterranean habitats in north‐east Spain. 3. Data showed that the Catalonia lowlands is an area to which V. atalanta migrates to breed during the winter. Migrants arrive in October and early November and initiate a period of intensive breeding. Larval development occurs throughout the winter until a first annual generation of adults appears in early spring. 4. Most of the butterflies emerging in the spring emigrate and leave the area without breeding. The data suggest strongly that recolonisation of the northern range is by these butterflies not by wintering adults. Altitudinal migration also seems to be a common phenomenon, allowing a further summer generation of adults to occur at high elevations within the Mediterranean region. 5. The complex phenology of V. atalanta in its southern range has evolved as a strategy to track larval resources through space and time. Autumn migration coincides with the greatest availability of the main food plant, Urtica dioica L. Late spring migration occurs by the time food quality is decreasing.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The nature of migration in the red admiral butterflyVanessa atalanta: evidence from the population ecology in its southern range

Stefanescu¹

2001

Ecological Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most of the European red admirals appear to spend winter around the Mediterranean Sea (Stefanescu 2001, Brattström 2006). Hibernation during winter does occur in the northern parts of Europe, but Pollard and Greatorex‐Davies (1998) suggested it a less important strategy compared to a southward migration. We know from field observations of that migration not only occurs in a dominant direction, i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the migration ecology of European red admirals Vanessa atalanta using stable hydrogen isotopes

Brattström¹,

Bensch²,

Wassenaar³

et al. 2010

Ecography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tracking migratory movement of small animals with variable migration patterns is difficult with standard mark–recapture methods or genetic analysis. We used stable hydrogen isotope (δD) measurements of wings from European red admirals Vanessa atalanta to study several aspects of this species’ migration. In the central part of southern Europe we found large differences in δD values between red admirals sampled in autumn and spring supporting the hypothesis that reproduction takes place in the Mediterranean region during winter. There was also an apparent influx to southern Europe in the spring of individuals with a more southerly origin, since many samples had higher δD values and similar to those expected from coastal areas of North Africa. We found a clear seasonal difference in the δD values of red admirals sampled in northern Europe. Spring migrants arriving in northern Europe generally had high δD values that indicated a southerly origin. In autumn, δD values suggested that red admirals were mostly from regions close to the sampling sites, but throughout the sampling period there were always individuals with δD values suggesting non‐local origins. The migration pattern of this species is supposedly highly variable and plastic. δD differences between individuals in the western part of Europe were generally small making migratory patterns difficult to interpret. However, butterflies from western Europe were apparently isolated from those from north‐eastern Europe, since δD values in the western region rarely corresponded to those of autumn migrants from the north‐east. Use of δD data for inferring butterfly migration in Europe is complex, but our study showed that this technique can be used to help uncover previously unknown aspects of red admiral migration.

show abstract

“…These counts are often interpreted as measures of relative abundance, and can be generated for a single species (Mattoni et al, 2001) or communities of species (Caldas and Robbins, 2003;Collier et al, 2006). Variations in the relative abundance of populations may reflect variation in absolute population sizes (Pollard and Greatorex-Davies, 1998), and can also be used to identify temporal and spatial extinction and colonisation events across a landscape. Mark-recapture studies involve capturing and marking individuals within a population, or groups of subpopulations (Maes et al, 2006) and using the recapture rates to estimate population size, based upon a variety of population models (Gall, 1984;Baker, 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Is relative abundance a good indicator of population size? Evidence from fragmented populations of a specialist butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A common task for conservation biologists and ecologists is to establish how many individuals there are in a population, usually within a defined area of habitat. Estimates of both absolute and relative population sizes are widely used in many aspects of population conservation and management. Mark–recapture studies are appropriate for estimating the absolute population sizes of a wide range of animals, in both open and closed populations, while relative abundances can be estimated from a variety of survey methods. Relative abundances are often used in a comparative way to compare both population size and fluctuations in abundance. Here, we used transect counts and capture–recapture studies to estimate the relative abundances and population sizes of a specialist butterfly, Theclinesthes albocincta (Lycaenidae) in three habitat fragments, over two consecutive years. The sizes of the three populations differed significantly between sites and were highly variable between years. One population was extremely small and is likely to become locally extinct. We found that estimates of relative abundance were highly correlated with estimates of population size (r2 = 0.88, P = 0.017) derived from the open population models. The combination of transect counts and capture–recapture studies used in this study appears to be a very informative tool for the conservation and management of this butterfly species and could be extended to other insects.

show abstract

Increased abundance of the red admiral butterfly Vanessa atalanta in Britain: the roles of immigration, overwintering and breeding within the country

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

The nature of migration in the red admiral butterflyVanessa atalanta: evidence from the population ecology in its southern range

The nature of migration in the red admiral butterflyVanessa atalanta: evidence from the population ecology in its southern range

Understanding the migration ecology of European red admirals Vanessa atalanta using stable hydrogen isotopes

Is relative abundance a good indicator of population size? Evidence from fragmented populations of a specialist butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About