Enlarge This is a photo of a Large Blue butterfly (Maculinea arion).Photo: Andre Kuenzelmann/UFZ Intelligent countryside management could improve the survival chances of animal and plant species threatened by climate change. The creation of small heat-shielded habitats and better links between habitats would counteract a moderate temperature increase and give threatened species more time to adapt better and/or to migrate to cooler regions. This is the conclusion drawn by scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) from a British study on saving the Large Blue butterfly (Maculinea arion). This butterfly became extinct in Britain in 1979 and was reintroduced there 25 years ago. Since then, the butterfly's reintroduction is seen as a model for the conservation of endangered insects. A form of countryside... [read full story]
