INSECT LIFE
In 2018, Wilfred Mole acquired 300 acres of adjacent farmland. Unlike that at Lower Pertwood, this land had been farmed using conventional methods. It was an ideal opportunity to compare the two farming methods and their differing impacts on wildlife.
“We commissioned entomologist Stuart Corbett to complete a study on the two sites,” explains Wilfred.
Pitfall traps, in the form of buried flowerpots filled with antifreeze and lightly covered, were laid across two sites, at 32ft (10m) intervals; five per site. Over the next few weeks, the beetles and spiders that collected in these traps were noted.
“The results were pretty conclusive,” says Wilfred. “The organic land showed 10 times the biomass of the conventional site.”
“The number of ground beetles was particularly interesting,” adds Nick. “Ground beetles typically eat weeds, so the more you have of those, the better it is for your crop.”
Nick and Stuart also searched the farm for an ‘Ark’ site. This is an area of land that might have been missed by any farming.
“We identified a small patch of short grass next to some gorse that hadn’t been managed for a while,” says Nick. “There, we found a really rare beetle, called the Rugged oil beetle.” Oil beetles are so-called due to the toxic oily secretions they produce to defend themselves when threatened by predators. “Our priority was to ensure the current management continued.”
“What humans really do not understand is that most of the disturbance they cause, they cannot even see,” adds Wilfred. “But this disturbance can break the harmonious chain of survival that nature is so good at engineering.”