FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES NO LONGER APPEAR AT ONCE DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

SOPHIA RODRÍGUEZ LEGUIZAMON 804 FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES NO LONGER APPEAR AT ONCE DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE Flowers and butterflies no longer appear at once due to climate change that is causing global warming and worsening drought in the Mediterranean, affecting the interaction between flower and butterfly, according to a study by the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF). According to the study, it was determined that high temperatures and low rainfall causes a lack of coordination between the flowering season and the time of flight of butterflies. According to Constantí Stefanescu, a researcher Creaf, moments of peak flowering and abundance of butterflies are separated in a measure of 70 days and increase sharply in the years drought. This loss of sync negatively affects both butterflies, which have more difficulty finding food, such as plants, which lose potential pollinators. The study, which also involved the University of the Balearic Islands (Spanish archipelago in the Mediterranean), analyzed for 17 years how they interact flowers and butterflies. Data from the Natural Park Aiguamolls del Emporda in Gerona province indicate that there is less overlap between the time when the plants reach maximum flowering and when most abundant butterflies in recent years. The researchers concluded that the cause of this phenomenon is climate change, which causes there mismatches between the 12 studied species of butterflies and flowers they feed on. The study also found that, in extreme cases, the separation between butterflies and flowers can be of 160 days, but if it continues, could lead to large declines in populations of butterflies.