Introduction: space and time in insect conservation management

Most current emphasis on insect species conservation is on attributes of ‘space’: the sites or habitats frequented by the species or on which they can be anticipated to occur within a very few years. Recovery plans normally commit support and action only for a limited period, and rarely extend beyond about a decade. However, conservation is also (just as importantly) about the longer-term future of the species as well as their present circumstances. Once any vital short-term measures to immediately safeguard the species have been assured, conservation planning may change to encompass the longer term. The dimension of ‘time’ is highly relevant, and satisfactory management must – as far as possible – anticipate a species' needs beyond the immediate context that might be presented. This may mean looking at a landscape context for sites and resources, or trying to forecast site and resource suitability beyond the immediate duration of a management plan. Focus on an individual site may be the immediate primary need for managing a sedentary or poorly dispersing insect species, but conditions that are entirely favourable at present may change dramatically in the future. Sustaining these can become increasingly difficult as those changes occur. Around 35% of the British butterfly species can persist in sites as small as 0.5–1 hectares (Thomas 1984). However, an individual habitat patch of such size may change quite rapidly through succession, and remain suitable for only a few years (or few insect generations) if left to its own devices.