RECORD
Local and Landscape Effects on Butterfly Density in Northern Idaho Grasslands and Forests
- Title:
- Local and Landscape Effects on Butterfly Density in Northern Idaho Grasslands and Forests
- Creator:
- Pocewicz, Amy; Morgan, Penelope; Eigenbrode, Sanford D.
- Date Created:
- 2009-12
- Description:
- Understanding butterfly response to landscape context can inform conservation management and planning. We tested whether local-scale resources (host and nectar plants, canopy cover) or landscape context, measured at two scales, better explained the densities of four butterfly species. The density of Coenonympha tullia, which has host plants strongly associated with grassland habitats, was positively correlated with the amount of grassland in 0.5- and 1-km radius landscapes and only occurred in forests when they bordered grasslands. For the other species, Celastrina ladon, Cupido amyntula, and Vanessa cardui, local-scale resources better explained butterfly densities, emphasizing the importance of local habitat quality for butterflies. These three species also used host plants that were distributed more heterogeneously within and among habitat types. Our findings demonstrate the importance of host plant spatial distributions when determining the scale at which butterfly density relates to resources, and we recommend that both these distributions and landscape context be evaluated when developing butterfly monitoring programs, managing for species of concern, or modeling potential habitat.
- Document Type:
- Research Article
- Subjects:
- UIEF butterfly density grassland management forest management butterfly response conservation management Coenonympha tullia Celastrina ladon Cupido amyntula Vanessa cardui habitat quality forest entomology
- Location:
- UIEF
- Latitude:
- 46.869607
- Longitude:
- -116.733856
- Publisher:
- Springer Netherlands
- Department:
- Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences
- Type:
- Text
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Local and Landscape Effects on Butterfly Density in Northern Idaho Grasslands and Forests", UIEF Research Exchange, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/uief/items/uief_0181.html
Rights
- Rights:
- In copyright, educational use permitted.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/