Glowing, Glowing, Gone? The Plight of the Glow worm in Essex
Dr Tim Gardiner
entoLIVE Webinar
24 Feb2024
The glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) is thought to be declining in the United Kingdom. Yet, much of the evidence for this is anecdotal, with a shortage of standardised long-term data to investigate temporal changes in abundance. A long-term transect study from Essex has produced statistical evidence of a decline (75%) in glow-worm abundance since 2001. There is a clear signal of climate warming and drying effects on glow-worm numbers and of local site changes due to a lack of active scrub management. Conservation strategies that mitigate local population losses could be an essential buffer against climate-driven declines in south-east England.
Check out the live Q&A and further info links for this talk here: https://biologicalrecording.co.uk/2025/02/24/glow-worms/
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