Category: Featured

How the Rise in British Temperatures is Causing a Rise in Exotic Tourists.   Changes in global temperatures have a direct impact on the distribution of many species. Rising temperatures over recent years have caused an increase in the number of exotic animal and plant visitors to the UK, and has allowed them to stay. Stephen Moss, a naturalist, writer and broadcaster highlighted numerous examples of novel visitors to the UK in a recent Guardian article, including the blackcap, cattle egret, chiffchaff, little egret, long-tailed blue butterfly, clifden nonpareil, hummingbird hawkmoth and deaths-head hawkmoth. Moss points out that ‘sightings of these more unusual species is exciting, especially for nature enthusiasts’, but they are also evidence that climate change is driving rapid alterations to our native ecosystems.  Exotic species are being attracted by warmer climates and an abundance of food, dubbed the ‘honeymoon period’, allowing species to thrive on improved conditions (Moss, 2020). However, a tipping point of these conditions is likely to be...