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Natureboy: drought will have longer term impacts on wildlife




In spite of several heavy downpours (and even local flooding) we are still officially in drought.

Any gardeners will have noted the ground is still very dry a few inches down. The weather seems to be affecting our local wildlife in different ways.

I was convinced that the swallows and house martins had migrated more than a month early in early August.

Common toad. Photo: Elizabeth Dack.
Common toad. Photo: Elizabeth Dack.

They disappeared for several days – but then reappeared when the weather cooled down.

I can only think they flew up to catch insects higher in the atmosphere (either carried high by air thermals or also flying to avoid the heat).

Some insects may cope with very hot dry weather better than others – but being ‘ectotherms’ (i.e. organisms whose body temperature depends on external sources), they find it difficult to regulate their body temperature in very hot or cold weather.

Bumblebee on the red flower. (58458131)
Bumblebee on the red flower. (58458131)

Any of our native fauna that is more adapted to colder weather (e.g. most of our bumblebees) is likely to struggle in very hot, dry periods.

Bumblebees cannot forage in high temperatures where they will overheat – and in a prolonged hot summer will be wholly dependent on any food stores they have gathered in their nests.

Dehydration can also be a problem – and at one point this summer, animal rescue centres said they were overwhelmed with people bringing in dehydrated wildlife, from badgers and hedgehogs to bats and birds.

The long-term result of weather disruption at key parts of the breeding year will of course be less successful breeding and ultimately declining populations and, most likely, localised extinctions.

It is expected that bumblebee populations will decline in regions where very hot weather becomes the norm, perhaps colonising areas further north.

Such population shifts will bring their own problems, as indigenous wildlife is affected by the arrival of new species and long-established ecological balances are disrupted. The rapidity of climate change will not allow a ‘gradual evolution’.

Other animals we should be particularly concerned about are our amphibians – toads, frogs, newts, snakes and lizards.

Many ponds have completely dried up this summer and rivers are at historic low levels. I have not found a toad or newt in my garden all year.

Most amphibians do not need to live in ponds all the time, mainly being dependent on waterbodies for their breeding season in the spring.

But they do need damp, shady areas in which to forage and hibernate over winter and in dry spells.

So very hot, dry weather is a problem both to them and the invertebrates they eat. Habitat and food availability near a breeding pond is key to their success.

Reduced water levels and warm weather also exacerbates other adverse impacts on water quality including chemical pollution, algal blooms and deoxygenation.

A recent report by Wildfish – a campaigning group dedicated to maintaining sustainable fisheries in Britain, has highlighted that after some years of progress, the quality of our waterbodies in the UK is now declining.

This week they launched a legal challenge to the governments proposed legislation that would allow water companies to continue to discharge sewage to waterways.

Wildfish state that 13 per cent of freshwater species are near extinction, and even species like ‘common’ frogs and toads have seen a near 70pc population decline in the last 30 years.

We urgently need to stop the decline of existing wetlands and create many more new ponds and lakes if we are to sustain our wildlife through these periods of extreme weather.



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