Bulletin of the Catalan Butterfly Monitoring Scheme 2003

cyBulletinn of the Catalant Butterflyh Monitoring iScheme a 2003 - no. 3 Cover illustrations mation at our disposal re g a rding various aspects Go d o m a r (La Ga r rotxa, 700 m). This site lies of its ecology. in Batet de la Serra, near Olot, and its transect pass- Detail of the hind-wing underside of the Spotted Fi n a l l y, we would like to take this occasion to es through a series of traditional agricultural envi- Fritillary (Melitaea didyma) (photo: A. Miquel). thank all those who have provided us with texts, ronments (cultivated fields and hay-meadows) that A scarce butterfly in Catalonia, the Clouded Apollo photographs and/or drawings, and to welcome all a re being managed with an eye to increasing the (Parnassius mnemosyne) (photo: J.R. Salas). those who will be walking a CBMS transect for the are a ’s biodiver s i t y . This new station means that the first time during the 2004 season. CBMS in La Gar r otxa Volcanic Zone Natural Par k is represented by two sites, of which the Godomar transect is much more Mediterranean than the wel l - Editorial established transect at Can Jordà. A bigger Cynthia and La Nou de Berguedà (B erguedà, 1,130 m). Th i s translated into English ne w transect runs through part of La Serra de Catl- The CBMS network laràs, a mountain range lying to the south of the his new edition of Cy n t h i a incorporates two Current situation of the Butterfly b e t t e r - k n own Serra del Cadí. The transect passes Tim p o r tant novelties: we have increased the num- Monitoring Network in Catalonia in 2003 ar ound a farm – El Reig – located between La Nou ber of pages from 16 to 20 and now include the de Berguedà and Malanyeu, and includes grazing whole text in English in a central pull-out section. The CBMS celebrated its 10th anniversary in meadows and the typical forest formations of the The number of pages has been increased in orde r 2003. The number of transects has increased ar ea: Scots pine, Downy oak and Box or Beech and to double the space dedicated to the sites and the greatly compared to the previous year and Bo x, depending on whether the sections run on the identification of difficult species. We believe that now consists of almost 50 stations. The eight south or north side of the mountain. This is one these are two of the most popular sections of Cyn- new incorporations in 2003 include a of the richest stations in the CBMS network and t h i a amongst CBMS workers since they prov i d e transect on the island of Ibiza and one in an boasts well-constituted populations of a significant important information on butterfly species-diver- extremely species-rich area in the Pyrenees. number of butterfly species. sity in Catalonia and how to separate look-alike In all, 110,174 butterflies belonging to 137 Ai g u a b a r re i g (S egrià, 200 m). Lying at the con- species. The CBMS stations described re p re s e n t species have been recorded. fluence of the rivers Se g re, Cinca and Eb ro with- two ve ry different habitats with highly dissimilar in the Espai Natural Protegit of Tossals d’A l m a t re t butterfly communities: on the one hand, we pay a uring 2003 a total of 46 CBMS stations pro- and near the town of Granja d’E s c a r p , the Aiguabar- visit to the deciduous woodlands that dominate the Dvided complete data (fig. 1) and in a furt h e r reig transect enjoys an extremely arid climate in ar ea of Catalonia with a more central Eur opean cli- t h ree the data re c or ded we re not complete enough an area dominated by Ro s e m a ry and White flax mate (Can Jo rdà, in La Ga r rotxa Volcanic Zo n e to calculate annual species indices. The number of s c ru b. It is re m a rkable for being the only area of Natural Park) and then move on to the Rosemary transects in the Balearic Islands was increased by Catalonia in which the Greenish Black-tip Elp h i n - and White Flax scrublands of the arid southwest- the incorporation of a new butterfly walk in the stonia charl o n i a is known to fly, which here feeds ern corner of the country (Sebes, near Flix). T h e south of the island of Ibiza. on the crucifer Boleum asperu m, endemic to this identification guides in this edition of Cyn t h i a ce n - The annual series currently available are shown p a rt of the Eb ro va l l e y. During its first ye a r, this tre on the Gatekeepers (genus Pyronia), common in figure 2. The six stations that have been operat- transect re c e i ved a grant from the Fundació Te r r i- t h roughout Catalonia, and the so-called ‘Go l d e n ing since the beginning of the CBMS have now tori i Pa i s a t g e . Ski p p e r s ’ (genus Th y m e l i c u s ), a genus that we hope provided 10 years of uninterrupted records, while Sal Ros s a (I biza, 0 m). This first transect on the all collaborators will start including in their week- the number of stations with five or more years of island of Ibiza is walked near the sea in an area of ly counts in 2004. records has now reached 26. dunes, scrub, pine woodland and various types of The decision to translate all the texts into Eng- pa s t u r eland. Despite the fact that the butterfly fau- lish was taken because currently this language is New transects na is extremely poor, this station does provide val u - without doubt the international lingua fra n c a o f Sant Mateu (Ma r esme, 425 m). This transect run s able information about butterfly migration. It is scientific discourse and thus we hope that in this t h rough part of the Serralada Litoral - a range of the southernmost CBMS site and thus the first to way the CBMS network will become better known medium-height coastal mountains – in the are a rec e i v e migrant species crossing the Med i t e r r a n e a n f u rther afield. If we manage to make our work around the summit of Turó d’en Baldiri (near the fr om the north coast of Africa. During its first yea r k no wn beyond the borders of Catalonia, we antic- better-known Turó de Sant Mateu). This new site the transect rec e i v ed financial help from the L’E s c o - ipate that our results will be used more extensive- and the established sites at Can Miravitges (139 m) la Taller Hàbitat (an environmental work s h o p ) ly by more butterfly workers and in conservation and La Conreria (300 m) make up an altitudinal- dependent on the Mi n i s t ry of the En v i ro n m e n t management. ly very interesting series of transects that all lie on of the ‘Consell Insular’ of Ibiza and Formentera. Aside from these novelties, you will find the the south face of La Serra de Marina. The com- Can Vilar (Vallès Occidental, 200 m). The wel l - habitual sections on the state of the CBMS net- monest habitats here are Mediterranean scru b pre s e r ved agricultural-forest mosaic near the city of w o rk, the most significant results from the 2003 and Holm oak woodland. The transect is part l y Sabadell is home to this transect. This area could season and two re v i ews of specialized articles (one financed by El Parc Serralada Litoral. play an important role as a biological corridor with- based entirely on data from the CBMS network Sales de Llierca (La Garrotxa, 300 m). Locat- in the Vallès plain and operates as a link betwe e n on the effects of climatic change on flight peri- ed at the foot of the mountains of L’Alta Garrotxa the Ser r es Litoral and Prelitorals (coastal and pre- ods, and the other on the situation of the two (eastern Pre- Py r enees) in an area in which Med i t e r - coastal mountains) and the mountains of La Sel v a species of Wood White – Leptidea sinapis and L . ranean and Eurosiberian habitats meet, this tran- and El Penedès regions. It lies within an area that re a l i), as well as a long article on the Tw o - t a i l e d sect alternates between abandoned stony terraces, is part of a project – L’Espai Agrof o r estal de Llevan t Pasha (C h a ra xes jasius). This butterf l y, one of the today lightly grazed, and mixed woodland. T h e - being developed by a number of local town and most striking species in Catalonia, has been we l l - b u t t e rfly fauna here is one of the most diverse of city councils aimed at protecting the remaining nat- studied recently and we now have abundant infor- all the CBMS stations.

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