Britain's wildlife faces shift as climate changes

LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) Climate change may actually help some of Britain's rare wildlife and plants spread to new areas but other species face a threat to their survival, said a report launched by the government.

The study highlighted the need for planning now to help wildlife adapt to a warming environment as well as for cutting greenhouse gases as a way to limit global warming, British officials said yesterday.

''Climate change is the most serious threat to biodiversity in the 21st century,'' said Barry Gardiner, biodiversity minister.

The greater horseshoe bat, turtle dove, pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly and small-flowered catchfly were among the 15 of 32 species explored in detail by the study that might find a warmer climate allowed them to spread to a wider area.

A further six species, among them the stag beetle, Barbastelle bat and cornflower, might have to move north from current ranges to survive.

Birds including the song thrush, black grouse and capercaille were among eight species that could see a big reduction in the areas where they could live as the climate warmed, the report said.

The song thrush, whose speckled chest was once a more common sight in British gardens, is already thought to have suffered in southern Britain as hotter, drier summers have reduced the numbers of the snails, slugs and worms that it eats.

''Successful adaptation measures for nature conservation take decades to become effective,'' said Ian Pearson, climate change and environment minister.

''That is why adaptation planning must start now. This must be combined with meaningful international efforts to reduce emissions.'' Environmentalists fear global warming, widely blamed on emissions of greenhouses gases from burning fossil fuels, could have a serious impact on creatures that have evolved to survive in a different environment.

The British report, the result of seven years of research, was launched on the UN's International Biodiversity Day.

REUTERS SM VV0928