White‐faced darter distribution is associated with coniferous forests in Great Britain

Abstract

Abstract Understanding of dragonfly distributions is often geographically comprehensive but less so in ecological terms. White‐faced darter (Leucorhinnia dubia) is a lowland peatbog specialist dragonfly which has experienced population declines in Great Britain. White‐faced darter is thought to rely on peat‐rich pool complexes within woodland, but this has not yet been empirically tested. We used dragonfly recording data collected by volunteers of the British Dragonfly Society from 2005 to 2018 to model habitat preference for white‐faced darter using species distribution models across Great Britain and, with a more detailed landcover data set, specifically in the North of Scotland. Across the whole of Great Britain, our models used the proportion of coniferous forest within 1 km as the most important predictor of habitat suitability but were not able to predict all current populations in England. In the North of Scotland, our models were more successful and suggest that habitats characterised by native coniferous forest and areas with high potential evapotranspiration represent the most suitable habitat for white‐faced darter. We recommend that future white‐faced darter monitoring should be expanded to include areas currently poorly surveyed but with high suitability in the North of Scotland. Our results also suggest that white‐faced darter management should concentrate on maintaining Sphagnum rich‐pool complexes and the maintenance and restoration of native forests in which these pool complexes occur.