Abstract
The Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) (De Villiers) (Odonata: Coenagrionidae: Ceriagrion) is classed as vulnerable (Shirt, British Red Data Book, Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough, UK, 1987) throughout the UK, and is included in certain Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) in the south. A large proportion of any Biodiversity Action Plan is concerned with the requirement of conservation and management programmes. In order to guide them, information about the habitat preferences of the species concerned is vital. Detailed habitat information was collected to include a variety of physical parameters particularly vegetation, both in-channel and bankside. The species was found to be primarily associated with in-channel emergent broad-leaved plants, bankside grasses and rushes, and shallow, narrow channels with dark organic substrate. The consequences of these findings are discussed in relation to the conservation and management of C. tenellum.
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Notes
Note that at the time of the study Harvest Slade, Picket Bottom and Ridley Bottom were not winterbournes but have since become so
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Forestry Commission for giving us permission us to carry out this study in the New Forest. We also thank two anonymous referees for their valuable comments. Coenagrion mercuriale is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), all work carried out that required handling of this damselfly larvae was done under licence from English Nature.
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Strange, A.M., Griffiths, G.H., Hine, S. et al. Habitat associations of the Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) (De Villiers) in heathland in southern England (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). J Insect Conserv 11, 241–249 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9041-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9041-x