The future of biodiversity conservation

Criticism has been raised as to the ability of scientific studies that are not hypothesis driven and experimental in nature to answer ecological questions (Lindenmayer & Likens, 2010). A concern for ‘passive’ and curiosity-driven monitoring studies is the difficulty of resolving drivers of change when there are no treatments, and it is true that most of the literature on the drivers of decline are correlational (Fox, 2013; Hardy, Sparks & Dennis, 2014). However the argument against curiosity - driven studies does not appear to consider the practical and social aspects of science, an d the fact that research is largely limited by funding. Observations need to be made first before hypotheses can be formed and experimental studies designed (Keeling, 1998), and often before research will be funded. This dataset, for example, was instrumental in obtaining funding from the Brian Mason Scientific and Technical Trust to complete digitation of the data and make it publicly available. Thus, ‘Cinderella’ science, though unglamorous (Nisbit, 2007) is still a very necessary part of conservation science. Further, a great deal of the long-term data sets used in studies of Lepidoptera decline overseas were due to the large concerted effort of volunteers and enthusiasts from overseas, and it is the massive scale of such studies that appears to make the temporal ecological modelling

worthwhile (Dennis & Sparks, 2007; Kozlov et al., 2010; Salama et al., 2007). Therefore, unpaid research has the potential to contribute a great deal to knowledge of Lepidoptera species. Indeed, the work presented here would suggest that, with the lack of research on New Zealand pollinators in general - experimental or otherwise - we cannot afford to ignore any ecological data that might help us fill the gap in knowledge of temporal trends in Lepidoptera abundance and diversity . From this perspective, community-driven research is key to the future of New Zealand biodiversity

5.4

Next steps

Increasing the number of sites and observations in the database is needed to strengthen the trends documented here. Based on the close match of the preliminary results to overseas studies, it is expected that additional observations will only enhance the current results. As with spatial studies, however, it is always possible that temporal data misses important change s if terminated too early (Keeling, 1998) or if gathered too infrequently; it was only due to occupancy modelling, for example, that the temporal declines in declines in A. caja were noticed after ineffective temporal studies (Conrad et al., 2002). Completing entry of Brian’s earlier sites is therefore important for capturing as much temporal variation as possible (Van Strein et al., 1997). A variety of assumptions also went into databasing and analyses which will need adjusting and clarifying with Brian before the tests are truly robust representations of wider trends.

Further analyses will also be worthwhile carrying out in order to bring the knowledge of New Zealand Lepidoptera closer to that of the global literature. Ordination of changes in species composition of sites could be expected to shed light on the features of sites that are hosting different levels of abundance and richness and which species are most sensitive to ongoing landscape and cli mate changes. Similarly, from a species perspective, quantifying life-history traits which may indicate risk of decline may aid conservation initiatives (Blake, Woodcock, Westbury, Sutton & Potts, 2011). It would also be interesting to focus on changes in abundance of a few rare and a few common New Zealand species: Lycaena and Zizina species would both be worthwhile, since species from this genus are also found in Britain where they have been well monitored (Léon-Cortés et al., 1999). Given Britain so far has documented greatest declines, such a comparison may indicate where our country stands in the high stakes of Lepidoptera biodiversity (New, 2004).

References

Anderson, D. R. (2001). The need to get the basics right in wildlife field studies. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 29(4), 1294-1297.

Bedford, F. E., Whittaker, R. J., & Kerr, J. T. (2012). Systematic range shift lags among a pollinator species assemblage following rapid climate change. Botany, 90, 587-597.

Black, H. L. (1972). Differential exploitation of moths by the bats Eptesicus fuscus and Lasiurus cinereus.Journal of Mammology, 53(3), 598-601.

Blair, R. B., & Launer, A. E. (1997). Butterfly diversity and human land use: species assemblage along an urban gradient. Biological conservation, 80, 113-125.

Blake, R. J., Woodcock, B. A, Westbury, D. B., Sutton, P., & Potts, S. G. (2011). New tools to boost butterfly quality in existing grass buffer strips. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 221-232. Brereton, T., Roy, D. B., Middlebrook, I., Botham, M., & Warren, M. (2011). The development of

butterfly indicators in the United Kingdom and assessments in 2010. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 139-151.

Conrad, K. F., Warren, M. S., Fox, R., Parsons, M. S., & Woiwood, I. P. (2006). Rapid declines of common, widespread British moths provide evidence of an insect biodiversity crisis. Biological conservation, 132, 279-291.

Conrad, K. F., Woiwod, I. P., Parsons, M., Fox, R., & Warren, M. S. (2004). Long-term population trends in widespread British moths. Journal of Insect Conservation, 8, 119-136.

Conrad, K. F., Woiwod, I. P., & Perry, J. N. (2002). Long-term decline in abundance and distribution of the garden tiger moth (Artica caja) in Great Britain. Biological Conservation, 106, 329-337. Dennis, R. L. H., & Sparks, T. H. (2007). Climate signals are reflected in an 89 year series of British

Lepidoptera records. European Journal of Entomology, 104, 763-767.

Department of Conservation (1999). A guide to keeping New Zealand lizards in captivity. Available from http://www.reptiles.org.nz/uploads/PDF/DOCGuidetokeepinglizards.pdf

Department of Conservation (2005). Pekapeka/Bats: native animals. Available from

http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/about-doc/concessions-and-permits/conservation- revealed/pekapeka-bats-lowres.pdf

Dover, J. W., Warren, M. S., & Shreeve, T. G. (2011). 2010 and beyond for Lepidoptera. Journal of insect conservation, 15, 1-3.

Dugdale, J. S. (1988). Lepidoptera – annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa. Fauna of New Zealand, 14, 264pp.

Dugdale, J. S. (1989). New Zealand Lepidoptera: Basic biogeography. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 16(4), 679-687.

Ekroos, J., Heliölä, J., & Kuussaari, M. (2010). Homogenization of Lepidopteran communities in intensively cultivated agricultural landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47, 459-467.

Emerson, B. C., Wallis, G. P., & Patrick, B. H. (1997). Biogeographic area relationships in southern New Zealand: a cladistic analyis of Lepidopteran distributions.

Environment Canterbury (2008). Canterbury Regional Environment Report 2008. Available from http://ecan.govt.nz/publications/Plans/Regional%20Environment%20Report%20

2008%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf

Field, R. G., Gardiner, T., Mason, C. F., & Hill, J. (2005). Agri-environment schemes and butterflies: the utilisation of 6m grass margins. Biodiversity and Conservation, 14, 1969-1976.

Field, R. G., Gardiner, T., Mason, C. F., & Hill, J. (2006). Countryside Stewardship Scheme and butterflies: a study of plant and butterfly species richness. Biodiversity and Conservation, 15,

443-452.

Field, R. G., Gardiner, T., Mason, C. F., & Hill, J. (2007). Agri-environment schemes and butterflies: the utilisation of two metre arable field margins. Biodiversity and Conservation, 16, 465-474. FileMaker Inc. (2014). FileMaker Training Series: Basics for FileMaker 13. Available from

http://www.filemaker.com/nz/support/training/fts.html

Fox, R. (2013). The decline of moths in Great Britain: a review of possible causes. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 6, 5-9.

Fox, R., Oliver, T. H., Harrower, C., Parsons, M. S., Thomas, C. D., and Roy, D. B. (2014). Long-term changes to the frequency of occurrence of British moths are consistent with opp osing and synergistic effects of climate and land-use changes. Journal of Applied Ecology, 51, 949-957. Fox, R., Randle, Z., Hill, L., Anders, S., Wiffen, L. & Parsons, M. S. (2011). Moths count: recording

moths for conservation in the UK. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 55-68.

Gillespie, M. (2010). The conservation of native New Zealand butterflies in the ecologically enhanced farming landscape of Waipara, northern Canterbury. (Doctoral thesis, Lincoln University, 2010). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10182/2521

Groenendijk, D., & Ellis, W. N. (2011). The state of the Dutch larger moth fauna. Journal of insect conservation, 15, 95-101.

Hardy, P. B., Sparks, T. H., Dennis, R. L. H. (2014). The impact of climatic change on butterfly geography: does climatic change produce coincident trends in populations, distributions and ranges? Biodiversity conservation, 23, 855-876.

Hodgson, J. G., Tallowin, J., Dennis, R. L. H., Thompson, K., Poschlod, P., Dhanoa, M. S, … Hynd, A. (2014). Changing leaf nitrogen and canopy height quantify processes leading to plant and butterfly diversity loss in agricultural landscapes. Functional Ecology, 28, 1284-1291.

Hunter, M. D., Kozlov, M. V., Itämies, J., Pulliainen, E., Back, J., Kyro, E., & Niemela, P. (2014). C urrent temporal trends in moth abundance are counter to predicted effects of climate change in an assemblage of subarctic forest moths. Global Change Biology, 20, 1723-1737.

Keeling, C. D. (1998). Rewards and penalties of monitoring the Earth. Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 23, 25-82.

Landcare Research (2014). Threatened species factsheets. Available from

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/animals/large-moths/threatened- species-factsheets

McCartney, J., Stringer, I. A. N., & Potter, M. A. (2007). Feeding activity in captive New Zealand lesser short-tailed bats (Mystancina tuberculata). New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 34(3), 227-238. McGuinness, C. A. (2001). The Conservation Requirements of New Zealand’s Nationally Threatened

Invertebrates. Threatened Species Occasional Publication No 2. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation.

New Zealand Climate Change Centre (2014). IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, New Zealand Findings.

Available from http://www.nzclimatechangecentre.org/sites

/nzclimatechangecentre.org/files/images/research/NZCCC%20Summary_IPCC%20AR5%20NZ% 20Findings_April%202014%20WEB.pdf

New Zealand Climate Change Centre (2007) IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Impacts: New Zealand and the South Pacific. Retrieved from https://www.niwa.co.nz/sites

/niwa.co.nz/files/ipcc_report_03_0.pdf

Kozlov, M. V., Hunter, M. D., Koponen, S., Kouki, J., Niemelä, P. & Price, P. W. (2010). Diverse population trajectories among coexisting species of subantarctic forest moths. Population Ecology, 52, 295-305.

Leingärtner, A., Krauss, J., & Steffan-Dewenter, I. (2014). Species richness and trait composition of butterfly assemblages change along an altitudinal gradient. Oecologia, 175, 613-623.

Léon-Cortés, J. L., Cowley, M. J. R., & Thomas, C. D. (1999). Detecting decline in formerly widespread species: how common is the common blue butterfly Polyommatus Icarus?Ecography, 22, 643- 650.

Léon-Cortés, J. L., Cowley, M. J. R., & Thomas, C. D. (2000). The distribution and decline of a

widespread butterfly Lycaena phlaeas in a pastoral landscape. Ecological Entomology, 25, 285- 294.

Lewis, O. T., & Senior, M. J. M. (2011). Assessing conservation status and trends for the world’s butterflies: the Sampled Red List Index approach. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 121-128. Lindenmayer, D. B., & Likens, G. E. (2010). The science and application of ecological monitoring.

Biological Conservation, 143, 1317-1328.

Lyford, B. M. (1994). Lepidoptera and Trichoptera from Paroa, near Greymouth, New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist, 17, 47-51.

Nakamura, Y. (2011). Conservation strategies in Japan: status, actions and strategy. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 5-22.

New, T. R. (2004). Moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) and conservation: background and perspective.

Journal of Insect Conservation, 8, 79-94.

Newstrom, L., & Robertson, A. (2005). Progress in understanding pollination systems in New Zealand.

Öckinger, E., Dannestam, A., & Smith, H. G. (2009). The importance of fragmentation and habitat quality of urban grasslands for butterfly diversity. Landscape and Urban Planning, 93, 31-37. Patrick, B. H. (1990). Record of an upland grassland moth in a coastal salt marsh in Otago, New

Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society New Zealand, 20(3), 305-307.

Patrick, B. H. (1994). Lepidoptera of Kaitorete Spit, Canterbury. New Zealand Entomologist, 17, 52-63. Patrick, B. H. (2004). Conservation of New Zealand’s tussock grassland moth fauna. Journal of Insect

Conservation, 8, 199-208.

Patrick, B., & Patrick, H. (2012). Butterflies of the South Pacific. University of Otago Press, New Zealand.

Pollard, E., Moss, D, & Yates, T. J. (1995). Population trends of common British butterflies at monitored sites. Journal of Applied Ecology, 32, 9-16.

Pywell, R. F., Meek, W. R., Hulmes, L., Hulmes, S., James, K. L., Nowakowski, M. & Carvell, C. (2011). Management to enhance pollen and nectar resources for bumblebees and butterflies within intensively farmed landscapes. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 853-864.

R Development Core Team (2014). R: A language and environment for statistical computing.

Available from http://www.R-project.org.

Salama, N. K. G., Knowler, J. T., & Adams, C. E. (2007). Increasing abundance and diversity in the moth assemblage of east Loch Lomondside, Scotland over a 35 year period. Journal of Insect Conservation, 11, 151-156.

Sibatani, A. (1992). Decline and Conservation of Butterflies in Japan. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, 29(4), 305-315.

Stefanescu, C., Penuelas, J., & Filella, I. (2003). Effects of climatic change on the phenology of butterflies in the northwest Mediterranean Basin. Global Change Biology, 9, 1494-1506. Stefanescu, C., Torre, I., Jubany, J., & Páramo, F. (2011). Recent trends in butterfly populations from

north-east Spain and Andorra in the light of habitat and climate change. Journal of Conservation, 15, 83-93.

Steffan-Dewenter, I., Westphal, C. (2008). The interplay of pollinator diversity, pollinator services and landscape change. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45, 737-741.

Stringer, I. A. N., Hitchmough, R. A., Dugdale, J. S., Edwards, E., Hoare, R. J. B., & Patrick, B. H. (2012). The conservation status of New Zealand Lepidoptera. New Zealand Entomologist, 35(2), 120- 127.

Thomas, C. D., & Abery, C. G. (1995). Estimating rates of butterfly decline from distribution maps: the effect of scale. Biological Conservation, 73, 59-65.

Thomas, J. A., Telfer, M. G., Roy, D. B., Preston, C. D., Greenwood, J. J. D., Asher, J., … Lawton, J. H. (2007). Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis. Science, 303. doi: 10.1126/science.1095046

van Langevelde, F., Ettema, J. A., Donners, M., WallisDeVries, M. F., & Groenendijk, D. (2011). Effect of spectral composition of artificial light on the attraction of moths. Biological Conservation, 144, 2274-2281.

Van Strein, A. J., Van De Pavert, R., Moss, D., Yates, T. J., Van Swaay, C. A. M., & Vos, P. (1997). The statistical power of two butterfly monitoring schemes to detect trends. Journal of Applied Ecology, 34, 817-828.

Warren, M. S., Bourn, N. A. D. (2011). Ten challenges for 2010 and beyond to conserve Lepidoptera in Europe. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 321-326.

Warren, M. S., Hill, J. K., Thomas, J. A., Asher, J., Fox, R., Huntley, B., … Thomas, C. D. (2001). Rapid responses of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change. Nature, 414,

65-68.

White, E. G. (2004). A 1961-2000 Database for New Zealand Tussock Grassland Moths. Lincoln, NZ: Manaaki Whenua Press.

Williams, M. R. (2011). Habitat resources, remnant vegetation condition and area determine distribution patterns and abundance of butterflies, day-flying moths in a fragmented urban landscape, south-west Western Australia. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 37-54.

Wilson, R. J., & Maclean, I. M. D. (2011). Recent evidence for the climate change threat to Lepidoptera and other insects. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 259-268.