Gene Flow by Fiona Plenderlieth

older. What they would like is to have someone else take on a regular walk and have possible successors. And it is the case of ‘more the merrier’.

Butterfly Conservation have a number of ways to record butterfly numbers. Using the thousands of records that they get, they can say what butterflies are where across the UK and how many. There was little method to collecting data until 1976 when the Pollard Walk was devised. The methodology is the same for transects and the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) which was established in 2009 and only needs to be walked twice a year.

If you still wish to help with butterfly conservation but both transects and the WCBS are just not for you, how about the Garden Butterfly Survey. Once you are set up on the web it is entirely up to you how often you enter sightings and there are photographs to help you identify the species you saw. If you have a smart phone, it can be even easier using i-Record which can also help with identification. Casual sightings can be recorded on i-Record as you walk whether in town or country.

I have already mentioned the transect in Dunwich Forest. In the same area at Darsham there is a WCBS square available. It is not the most attractive walk in Suffolk nor the shortest to get round yet if you lived there, it would be convenient.

To take up a citizen science hobby is a productive way to spend your spare time and helps conservation. Counting butterflies is best on warm sunny days and costs nothing so if you want to know more, or find out what transects are available, please contact me by email:- twm.wade@yahoo.com

Gene Flow

Fiona Plenderlieth (PHD Student at The James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen) Fraxinus excelsior (Ash) is an important component of woodland and non-woodland trees in the UK. Unfortunately, our ash trees are threatened by the oomycete Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, which causes Ash dieback. Diseased trees may be felled as they present a threat to health and safety, of most concern are the estimated 4 million ash trees along the UK road and rail network which may be removed, this could represent a substantial loss in connectivity. A total of 955 species relies on these Ash trees to some extent, of these there are 241 invertebrates. Therefore, the aim of my research is to gain a better understanding of the consequences of Ash dieback for landscape connectivity for some of these insects. This year I will be collecting a small number of samples of two ash-associated lepidoptera, the Ash-bud moth Prays fraxinella and Yellowspot tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, from ancient woodlands across Suffolk. This will allow us to establish current levels of gene flow between these woodlands. These results will be compared with samples taken from woodlands in the South West and North West of England. This data will be most valuable for assessing which woodland characteristics and landscape features are key for maintaining connectivity