The movement of the northern limit of butterflies almost coincided with the speed of temperature increase. This shows that the distribution change of butterflies occurred because of the temperature increase in Korea. (image: Heidi/flickr)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The butterflies that live in the southern part of Korea have migrated 1.6 kilometers a year for the past 60 years, due to global warming.
In the process of organizing the distribution change of butterflies among different species, the Korea Forest Research Institute discovered that the movement of the northern limit of butterflies almost coincided with the speed of temperature increase. This shows that the distribution change of butterflies occurred because of the temperature increase in Korea.
The southern limit of northern butterflies and northern limit of southern butterflies were used in the study. The northern limit of southern butterflies moved 1.6 kilometers north every year, while the southern limit of northern butterflies moved south because of vegetation changes. The distribution of butterflies that live in grasslands did not change.
The fact that the northern limit migrated north due to climate change, but the southern limit remained the same coincides with the results of research conducted previously. The rate of insects moving north in Europe was 1.4 kilometers per year.
Dr. Kwon Tae-sung from the Korea Forest Research Institute explained the significance of the outcome. “The research shows that the migrating patterns of butterflies in Asia, which was not known well, showed the same characteristics as the phenomenon in Europe. This means that the distribution change in butterflies is a global phenomenon caused by global warming.”
The results of the research were published in ‘Climatic Change’, an internationally renowned journal specializing in climate change. It was also announced that Dr. Kwon will receive an award for best published thesis at the Korean Climate Change Conference.
By Francine Jung (francine.jung@kobizmedia.co.kr)
