It is only to be expected that these accelerating impacts will be mirrored by plunging biodiversity trends. Some have estimated<\/a> that species are being lost at more than one hundred times the natural rate. We may even be in the midst of the sixth mass extinction event<\/a>.<\/p>\n But despite all this, the response of wildlife to human pressures is by no means universally negative.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Major trunk roads and motorways typically represent a threat to biodiversity. But for some enterprising plants, these have offered an opportunity. The petite white flowers of Cochlearia danica<\/em> (Danish scurvy-grass) were a sight formerly restricted to Britain\u2019s shorelines. This is a plant that thrives on high salinity (a halophyte). The annual spreading of rock salt has created an ideal novel habitat for this species along main roads, where the turbulence of traffic has aided the dispersal of its seeds.<\/p>\n A much more extensive \u2018novel habitat\u2019 is forestry plantations. The post-war demand for domestic timber has led to conifer plantations making up much of the UK\u2019s forest cover. These often consist of non-native coniferous monocultures, which generally don\u2019t support the wealth of life found in semi-natural woodland. Nonetheless, they can offer ideal habitat for opportunists. Some of these species appear to be on the rise because of UK forestry policy. Examples include siskin and coal tit, several moth species (more on those later), as well as certain wood ants<\/a>.<\/p>\n The most extreme Anthropocene opportunists are found closer to home. Cities are about as far away from a pristine ecosystem as it\u2019s possible to get. Despite this, some species thrive in our concrete jungles.<\/p>\n Taking advantage of the ledges on tall buildings and gorging on feral pigeons, urban peregrine populations are soaring. Our cities seemingly represent superior habitat<\/a> compared to their traditional haunt of rocky cliffs. Similarly, certain bumblebees are actually doing better in urban areas<\/a>. The highly successful tree bumblebee appears to be on the rise partly because it\u2019s able to nest in man-made structures. Perhaps the most familiar urbanite is the fox, which has adjusted to the hustle and bustle of our cities remarkably well.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, other wildlife appears to be on the rise because of climate change. British butterflies are generally thought to be benefitting from warmer temperatures. Examples include the Comma<\/a>, Speckled Wood<\/a> and Brown Argus<\/a>, which have all increased their British range over recent decades.<\/p>\n Indeed, a study<\/a> of over 3,000 British species suggested that climate change will present an opportunity for more taxa in terms of future range change than it will a threat.<\/p>\n There is need for caution when interpreting these predictions. Even species that are expanding their distribution, may not necessarily be doing well overall. A species could increase its range (due to warmer temperatures) but decline in abundance (due to unrelated factors, or other aspects of climate change, such as extreme weather events).<\/p>\n Fascinated by the idea of certain species becoming more common, I decided to take a closer look at success among British moths. I focussed on 51 moths that were increasing in both their abundance and their occupancy (a measure of range) to be sure they constituted true \u2018winners\u2019.<\/p>\n These 51 successful moths are rather diverse in terms of their ecologies and life histories. The only thing this group of moths seem to have in common is that, well, they are all becoming more common.<\/p>\n Conservationists often assume that it is the habitat generalists that increase, while specialists decline. But for British moths, at least, there is limited evidence of this so far.<\/p>\n Some of these successful moths are indeed generalists: feeding on a wide range of foodplants and occurring across almost all habitats. But several are restricted to a single foodplant, or typically occur in fragmented habitats (such as mature woodland). The level of habitat generalism for this select group of 51 winners was no higher than for the pool of 330 species from which they were selected (which includes many declining species).<\/p>\nAnthropocene opportunists<\/h6>\n
![\"Cochlearia](\"http:\/\/www.douglasboyes.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/1-Cochlearia-danica.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.douglasboyes.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/2-Three-city-winners.jpg\")
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<\/a>A neglected topic<\/h6>\n