Butterflies on nature reserves in Britain

Abstract

Nature reserves in Britain have been established by statutory conservation agencies, local authorities, voluntary conservation organizations, commercial companies and private individuals. While the majority of these sites have been selected for acquisition or lease because they represent good examples of particular biotopes, a few have achieved nature reserve status due to the presence of significant populations of scarce or threatened species, including butterflies. There is no comprehensive guide to all Britain’s nature reserves, although several books summarize the location and interest of many of them. Hywel-Davies, Thom and Bennett (1986) give a general account of a wide selection of nature reserves; Smith (1982) gives a general account of a selection of Royal Society for Nature Conservation (RSNC) Trusts’ reserves; Chapman (1987) and Newbery (1983) review Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserves. The role of nature reserves in conserving British butterflies, and information on the representation of butterflies on nature reserves, has been reviewed previously in publications and unpublished reports: for National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and other statutory sites see Morris (1967) and Peachey (1982); Pollard, Hall and Bibby (1986) include accounts of butterflies on NNRs with Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (BMS) transects; for reserves administered by the RSNC Trusts see Steel and Parsons (1989); for RSPB reserves see Cadbury (1990); for Butterfly Conservation (BC) reserves see Butterfly Conservation (1992). Ratcliffe (1977) includes a general review of the conservation of butterflies and moths for the series of Nature Conservation Review (NCR) key sites. Thomas (1984a) and Warren (1992b) present broader reviews which include analyses of the roles of nature reserves and examples of the failures and successes of conserving butterflies on these sites.