Participation in international project
"Threatened butterflies in Europe"
This project provides a new up-to-date review of the threat and conservation status of all 575 butterfly species known to occur in Europe. The geographical scope is continent-wide, and includes the Azores, Madeira, Russia to the Ural mountains and the whole of Turkey. Data was obtained for all countries except Iceland, the Canary Islands and the Caucasian Republics. The aim was identify species which are threatened at a European level and are most in need of conservation measures (species of European Conservation Concern, SPECs)
Distribution and trend data were collected for each country through a network of over 50 participants who each completed a questionnaire. The resulting database allowed an objective quantitative assessment of each species' threat and conservation status (Chris van Swaay et al. 1997).
Ukrainian and Moldova parts of project
For species restricted to Ukraine and Moldova (208(83) species for Ukraine, 36%(14%) of the European total) the new IUCN-criteria were followed as closely as possible (Moldova data in brackets). Present abundance and trend used for determination new ones.
Categories and criteria for the national threat status:
EXTINCT (EX) IUCN 1994: A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. Threatened butterflies of Europe: A taxon is classified into that category when there are no selfsustainable populations left in the country.
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR) IUCN: A taxon is Critically Endangered when it is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future, as defined by any of the criteria. In this assessment criterium A.1 is used: Population reduction in the form of the following: an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected reduction of at least 80% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer. Threatened butterflies of Europe: A taxon is Critically Endangered when it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future, as defined by the following: Decrease of more than 75% during the last 25 years.
ENDANGERED (EN) IUCN: A taxon is Endangered when it is not Critically Endangered but facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. In this assessment only criterium A.1 is used: 'an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected reduction of at least 50% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer Threatened butterflies of Europe: A taxon is Endangered when it does not qualify for Critically Endangered but is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future, as defined by the following: Decrease of at least 50% during the last 25 years.
VULNERABLE (VU) IUCN: A taxon is vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future. In this assessment only criterium A.1 is used: an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected reduction of at least 20% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer. Threatened butterflies of Europe: A taxon is Vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, as defined by the following:
a. Decrease of at least 25% during the last 25 years.
b. Decrease of at least 15% during the last 25 years correlated with a present abundance less than 1%.
c. A present abundance of less than 1% and strong fluctuations.
d. A present abundance of less than 1% and trend unknown.
LOWER RISK (LR) IUCN: A taxon is Lower Risk when it has been evaluated, does not satisfy the criteria for any of the categories Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Taxa included in the Lower Risk category can be separated into three subcategories: 1. Conservation dependent (cd). Taxa which are the focus of a continuing taxon-specific or habitat specific conservation programme targeted towards the taxon in question, the cessation of which would result in the taxon qualifying for one of the threatened categories above within a period of five years. 2. Near threatened (nt). Taxa which do not qualify for Conservation dependent, but which are close to qualifying for Vulnerable. 3. Least Concern (lc). Taxa which do not qualify for Conservation Dependent or Near Threatened. Threatened butterflies of Europe: A taxon is considered Lower Risk (LR-nt) when it does not fulfil the criteria for the other categories but is close to qualifying for Vulnerable as defined by the following: a. Decrease of more than 15% correlated with present abundance more than 1%. b. Stable distribution with a present abundance less than 1%. A taxon is Lower Risk (LR-cd) when there are only small populations left in a country and taxon-specific or habitat specific conservation programmes can be applied successfully, while a cessation of those measurements would result in the taxon qualifying for one of the threatened categories within a short period. A taxon is Lower Risk (lc) when it does not qualify for Conservation Dependent or Near Threatened and is not in danger to qualify for one of the threatened categories within the next years. Taxons qualifying for this category will not be listed in the list of threatened species.
DATA DEFICIENT (DD) IUCN: A taxon is Data deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its extinction based on its distribution and/or population status. Appropriate data on abundance and/or distribution is lacking. Data Deficient is therefore not a category of threat or Lower Risk. Listing of taxa in this category indicates that more information is required and acknowledges the possibility that future research will show that threatened classification is appropriate. Threatened butterflies of Europe: A talon cannot be assessed if there is neither data about the abundance nor the trend in distribution during the last 25 years available.
Table 1: Criteria and categories for selecting red list species.
The abbreviations for the categories refer to the categories of the IUCN (1994): EX=extinct CR=critically endangered EN=endangered VU=vulnerable LR(nt)=lower risk (near threatened) DD=data deficient.
Overall, 68 species (33%) are considered to be threatened in Ukraine. A total of 143 species are considered to be of concern or relatively secure, although 57 of these are classed as Lower Risk (near threatened). So, overall, 28 species (33%) are considered to be threatened in Moldova. A total of 56 species are considered to be concern or relatively secure, although 18 of these are classed as Lower Risk (near threatened).
The overall message from this short report is clear: the distribution and overall diversity of Ukrainian and Moldova butterflies are under considerable threat from widespread change, largely as a result of rapidly changing land-use over the investigated countries, especially the intensification of agricultural and forestry. Today we make a series of recommendations for the conservation of Ukrainian and Moldova butterflies including policy changes and an overall action programme. Identifying Prime Butterfly Areas can help to focus actions for the most threatened species. Protection and improved management of butterfly habitats all over the investigated countries is urgently needed. Furthermore these measures and their impact on butterflies have to be monitored. Butterfly monitoring scheme have already been set up in SW Ukraine. Recording and monitoring must be the best priority in order to improve future assessment. Our data will used for Phase II which include a compilation of database on threatened species in Europe.
This project was funded by the Council of Europe, English Nature and 'in kind' contributions from Dutch Butterfly Conservation. We are extremely grateful to our Ukrainian and Moldova scientists and amateurs for their time and invaluable expertise: Anatoli Gritcenko (Uzhgorod), Vladimir Gurko (Chernovtci), Mihail Nagomatulin (Kishinev, Moldova), Oleg Smik (Kharkov), Anatoli Korovin (Kiev), Genadi Romanov (Khmelnicki), Sergei Hrush (Zaporozie), Yuri Kanarski (Lvov), Vladislav Kovalenko (Krivoi Rog), Miroslav Atamanuk (Sniatin), Anatoli Shneider (Sudak), Natalia Elago (Chernigov).
Source:
Chris van Swaay, Martin Warren, Andrea Grill. Threatened butterflies in Europe. Provisional report. Dutch Butterfly conservation (De Vlinderstichting), Wageningen. VS97.25, November, 1997.
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