Roy D B, Asher J
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 2LS, UK.
Int J Biometeorol. 2003 Aug;47(4):188-92. doi: 10.1007/s00484-003-0170-6. Epub 2003 Apr 15.
A strong relationship between appearance dates and temperature has been demonstrated over two decades for most British butterflies. Given this relationship over time, this paper tests whether comparable spatial trends in timing are also apparent. A major survey of British butterflies is used to calculate mean sighting dates of adults across the country, and these are compared with geographic patterns in temperature. With the use of regression techniques, we calculated latitudinal (south-north) and longitudinal (east-west) gradients in sighting date and temperature. The majority of butterflies appear later in the east of Britain where temperatures are lower during summer, but not the rest of the year. Most butterflies are also seen later in the cooler north of the country, by upto 3-4 days/100 km. However, no geographical relationship between temperature and timing of appearance was detected for over a third of the species analysed, suggesting their populations may be adapted to their local climates. We suggest possible mechanisms for this and discuss the implications of such adaptation for the ability of butterfly species to respond to rapid climate warming.
在过去二十多年里，已证实大多数英国蝴蝶的出现日期与温度之间存在密切关系。鉴于这种随时间变化的关系，本文检验了在时间上类似的空间趋势是否也很明显。一项针对英国蝴蝶的主要调查被用于计算全国成年蝴蝶的平均目击日期，并将这些日期与温度的地理模式进行比较。通过使用回归技术，我们计算了目击日期和温度的纬度（南 - 北）和经度（东 - 西）梯度。大多数蝴蝶在英国东部出现得较晚，那里夏季温度较低，但一年中的其他时间并非如此。在该国较凉爽的北部，大多数蝴蝶出现的时间也较晚，每100公里最多晚3 - 4天。然而，在分析的超过三分之一的物种中，未检测到温度与出现时间之间的地理关系，这表明它们的种群可能已适应其当地气候。我们提出了对此的可能机制，并讨论了这种适应对蝴蝶物种应对快速气候变暖能力的影响。
