U.K. drought ‘may hit at-risk wildlife’
By Emily Beament, PA
5 June 2011
Threatened wildlife such as water voles could be hit by the continuing dry weather across parts of the country, the Wildlife Trusts warned today. This year has seen an unusually dry spring, and despite some recent rainfall the dry weather is set to continue across much of the country into June, leaving rivers, streams, ponds and lakes all low on water in some areas. According to Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s water for wildlife adviser Penny Hemphill, falling water levels increase the risk of water voles being eaten by predators as they have to travel further down exposed banks to the water. And if ditches or small streams dry out altogether the voles, immortalised by Ratty in The Wind In The Willows, will be forced to move to new sites. Cows and sheep grazing what little grass there is on river banks will also force them to move to find cover. The knock-on effects of these problems tend to be seen the following year, Ms Hemphill said. “In a very dry year after a normal year, you will get a good population and they will attempt to breed, but the following year the population crashes and it takes two or three years for the population to recover.” … Elsewhere in the country, Northumberland Wildlife Trust said ponds were much lower than usual, posing a problem for great-crested newts whose eggs, laid in submerged vegetation, are being left high and dry. And Staffordshire Wildlife Trust said wet grasslands were drying up too quickly, affecting wading birds such as lapwings as the habitat attracts fewer insects, depriving chicks of food. …
