Insects at Bath City Farm are climate change ‘early warning system’
Wildlife surveys at Bath City Farm over the last eight years have recorded species that a generation ago would have been rare in the area, ecologists have revealed.
Bath Echo News Team
Nov 23, 2023
Excerpt:
The species, which are now common occurrences in Somerset, would have been rarities sixty miles south on the English coastline.
1,250 species have now been recorded at the 37-acre farm on a north-facing slope between Twerton and Southdown in the west of Bath.
30 of the species found on the grasslands and in the woods on the site are recent arrivals to the area, as warmer weather sees new species moving northwards.
Ecologist and Trustee, Mike Williams, who has led the wildlife recording, said: “Insects are important indicator species that help ecologists understand the realities of a changing climate on our natural world.
“Spiders are a classic example as due to their short lifespan and mobility they react to changes in weather.
“Three years ago, the elegant Wasp Spider was recorded on the Farm for the first time ever and is now increasingly common in the area.
“In the early 1990s I only ever saw the Wasp Spider on the south coast of England, in Dorset.
