According to the Broads Authority, climate change may have contributed to the resurgence of the Norfolk Hawker, a dragonfly that was once rare in many parts of the UK. The insect had gone extinct from the Cambridgeshire Fens in 1893, while the few breeding sites for the insect that existed prior to 2013 were located in the east of Norfolk and Suffolk. However, the Broads Authority has now reported sightings and egg-laying in various counties in England, including South Devon, Dorset and Lancashire.
Research conducted by the British Dragonfly Society discovered that the spread of the Norfolk Hawker from East Anglia was westwards from the Broads and then southwards along the coastal marshes of Suffolk since 1990. Water quality improvements and habitat creation in areas such as Whitlingham Broad also supported the dragonfly population around the southern edge of Norwich. However, the species’ recent colonisation of other counties beyond Norfolk and Suffolk may also be attributed to climate change-induced habitat change.
Dr Pam Taylor, representing the British Dragonfly Society, cautioned that the expansion of the hawker’s overall range still had some way to go before the species was truly secure in the UK. The Society said it was worried that ponds, streams and rivers are under threat of future drought, as dragonflies require wetlands to survive. The Broads Authority echoed the Society’s concerns, stating that the spread of the Norfolk Hawker might not simply constitute good news for the species, as it brought attention to the significant threats to the wetland habitats on which the hawker and many other species of dragonfly depend.
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