A spring carnival of a different kind is about to brighten your backyard.
The butterflies of south-eastern Australia are getting ready to burst forth in their annual race to reproduce.
But there are worrying signs the carnival may soon be over for several species, according to Nature Glenelg Trust senior ecologist Bryan Haywood, who co-authored the report Butterflies on the Brink.
"Butterflies on the Brink came out of a national workshop last year on 26 species we were concerned may go extinct within 20 years," Mr Haywood said.
"In western Victoria and eastern South Australia, which is where I work, they include the bright-eyed brown, banks' brown, and the eastern bronze azure.
"Climate change potentially has an influence but it's primarily disturbance of habitat and loss of habitat. It can be a decline in remnant bush and wetland, changing their environment by clearing it or draining it for other uses, or the increasing frequency of fires.
"The report estimated that five butterflies could be lost to extinction by 2040 unless management improves."
https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/101461938
The butterflies of south-eastern Australia are getting ready to burst forth in their annual race to reproduce.
But there are worrying signs the carnival may soon be over for several species, according to Nature Glenelg Trust senior ecologist Bryan Haywood, who co-authored the report Butterflies on the Brink.
"Butterflies on the Brink came out of a national workshop last year on 26 species we were concerned may go extinct within 20 years," Mr Haywood said.
"In western Victoria and eastern South Australia, which is where I work, they include the bright-eyed brown, banks' brown, and the eastern bronze azure.
"Climate change potentially has an influence but it's primarily disturbance of habitat and loss of habitat. It can be a decline in remnant bush and wetland, changing their environment by clearing it or draining it for other uses, or the increasing frequency of fires.
"The report estimated that five butterflies could be lost to extinction by 2040 unless management improves."
https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/101461938