Butterflies in danger: Butterflies respond to climate change. Warming and intensive agriculture are changing biodiversity.
Together with a group of scientists from Austria, Poland and Germany, prof. Werner Ulrich studied the impact of climate change on butterflies in the Salzburg Alps over the last 70 years. According to the reports of scientists from the Science of the Total Environment, butterflies are insects that are extremely sensitive to climate change and the intensification of agriculture. These animals have significantly shifted their average habitat range up, i.e. by about 300 meters. Responses to climate change can be seen particularly among mobile species, while more sedentary species are at great risk in this situation. Much of the basic data was collected by citizen science volunteers.
Our work has already been highlighted in German and Austrian media.