02:01 PM ET 06/09/99Butterflies React to Global Warming
 Butterflies React to Global Warming By PETER SVENSSON= Associated Press Writer=
 	   Butterfly populations in Europe have shifted north during the
 past century, a possible sign that many other animal species are
 moving in response to global warming, scientists say.
 	   ``It confirms that things are beginning to happen. If we can see
 it in butterflies, then it's likely to be happening in other
 groups,'' said Ian Woiwod, an entomologist at the Rothamstead
 Experimental Station in Britain who was not involved in the research.
 	   In a study published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature,
 researchers looked at 35 species of butterflies and found that 22
 had either died out at the southern end of their ranges, or spread
 beyond their former northern boundary, or both.
 	   Of the rest, most had not moved, while two species had extended south.
 	   The butterflies' ranges had moved 20 to 150 miles.
 	   Europe is 1.4 degrees warmer than it was 100 years ago, and the
 average temperatures experienced by butterflies then can now be
 found 75 miles farther north. Temperatures are expected to increase
 an additional 4 to 8 degrees in the next century because of the
 greenhouse effect.
 	   Butterly enthusiasts in Sweden, Finland and Estonia can now find
 certain butterflies farther north. In some cases, they are seeing
 species new to the country.
 	   For example, Heodes Tityrus, the sooty copper butterfly, has
 disappeared from its southern sites in Spain but established itself in Estonia.
 	   The researchers studied butterflies because they are known to be
 sensitive to the climate and have been followed by naturalists for
 a long time. Migratory butterflies and those strongly affected by
 other changes in the environment, like pollution and farming, were
 excluded from the study.
 	   Camille Parmesan, an ecologist at the University of Texas at
 Austin, organized the project, which was aimed at detecting
 large-scale shifts in response to climate change.
 	   She went to Europe, where many countries have
 government-sponsored programs that count butterflies. Some of the
 programs gather sightings from thousands of amateur collectors.
 	   She got butterfly specialists in Britain, France, Spain, Sweden,
 Finland and Estonia to pool their data.
 	   Earlier this week, experts in Washington, D.C., reported that
 populations of Alaska salmon are dying because of higher
 temperatures in the Pacific.