The last of the maculineans: can we save the emblematic Alcon Blue butterfly Phengaris alcon under climate change when its habitat continues to deteriorate?

Maes, Dirk;Pardon, Willy;Palmans, Ghis;Van Dyck, Hans
(2024) Journal of Insect Conservation : an international journal devoted to the conservation of inects and related invertebrates — Vol. 28, n° 5, p. 1037-1049 (2024)

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  • Maes, Dirkorcid-logoResearch Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Herman Teirlinckgebouw, Havenlaan 88 box 73, Brussels, B-1000, Belgium
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  • Pardon, WillyNatuurpunt, Afdeling Pelt, Belgium
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  • Palmans, Ghisorcid-logoNatuurpunt, Afdeling Pelt, Belgium
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  • Van Dyck, HansUCLouvain
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Abstract
In the NW-European region of Flanders (northern Belgium), wet heathlands harbour several threatened species among which the emblematic Alcon Blue butterfly Phengaris alcon is rapidly declining. Since 1990, the number of occupied grid cells in Flanders has decreased from 61 to only six in 2023, a decline of 90%. Due to the loss of many populations, the mean distance between populations tripled from 9 km in the period 1950–1990 to 27 km now. Site-wide egg counts in one of the strongholds of the Alcon Blue in Flanders revealed a strong increase after some initial intensive care conservation measures in the 2000s, but since 2013 a steep decline of 99% has been observed. The standardised egg counts in the remaining six Flemish populations (i.e., monitoring within the framework of the Natura2000 reporting) showed a yearly decrease of 18% since 2016. Despite increased conservation attention and targeted management since the end of the 1990s, the current situation of P. alcon in Belgium is more precarious than ever. Causes of this rapid decline are manifold and they are likely to be amplified by extreme weather conditions caused by climate change. More efficient intensive care measures and more intense cooperation across national borders are now quickly required to regionally preserve this habitat specialist with a unique eco-evolutionary profile.
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Maes, D., Pardon, W., Palmans, G., & Van Dyck, H. (2024). The last of the maculineans: can we save the emblematic Alcon Blue butterfly Phengaris alcon under climate change when its habitat continues to deteriorate? Journal of Insect Conservation : an international journal devoted to the conservation of inects and related invertebrates, 28(5), 1037-1049. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-024-00592-1 (Original work published 2024)