THE CONSEQUENCES OF A MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ENDANGERED KARNER BLUE BUTTERFLY

 
 
 
 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF A MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ENDANGERED KARNER BLUE BUTTERFLY

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Title: THE CONSEQUENCES OF A MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ENDANGERED KARNER BLUE BUTTERFLY
Author: Pickens, Bradley A
Description: The effects of management on threatened and endangered species are difficult to discern, and yet, are vitally important for implementing adaptive management. The federally endangered Karner blue butterfly (Karner blue), Lycaeides melissa samuelis, inhabits oak savanna or pine barrens, is a specialist on its host-plant, wild blue lupine, Lupinus perennis, and has two broods per year. The Karner blue was reintroduced into the globally rare black oak/lupine savannas of Ohio, USA in 1998. Current management practices involve burning 1/3, mowing 1/3, and leaving 1/3 of the lupine stems unmanaged at each site. Prescribed burning generally kills any Karner blue eggs present, so a trade-off exists between burning to maintain the habitat and Karner blue mortality. The objective of my research was to quantify the effects of this management strategy on the Karner blue. In the first part of my study, I examined several environmental factors, which influenced the nutritional quality (nitrogen and water content) of lupine to the Karner blue. My results showed management did not affect lupine nutrition for either brood. For the second brood, I found that vegetation density best predicted lupine nutritional quality, but canopy cover and aspect had an impact as well. Relatively lower host-plant nitrogen during the second brood was accompanied by a higher adult foraging rate, which suggests a trade-off of nutritional resources during these different life stages. For the second part of my study, I used surveys and behavior observations to quantify how the Karner blue responded to management treatments. Second brood females and males were more abundant in burned management units, and behavior observations revealed Karner blues avoided ovipositing in unmanaged management units. These management units were unburned for at least four years and were often characterized by a high leaf litter depth (>3.5 cm). Recolonizations of Karner blues from source populations within 120 meters was rapid, and this suggests the rotation of management units is appropriate at this scale. Therefore, burning areas with a high leaf litter depth will cause minimal harm to the Karner blue population, and will likely benefit the many threatened and endangered species in this rare ecosystem.
Permanent Link: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1149173870
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/16004
Date: 2006

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