Professor Washington State University Vancouver, Washington
In an era of insect declines, there is increasing need to identify methods and tools to recover at-risk species. Understanding the demographic and movement behavior of focal species in response to management tools is essential to taking active and effective conservation actions. In this talk, I describe stories with three at-risk butterflies. First, Fender’s blue butterfly, Icaricia icarioides fenderi, is a success story. It was listed as Endangered in 2000 and was recently proposed for downlisting to Threatened. Work discussed in this talk includes demographic responses to fire and to grass-specific herbicides. Second, the migratory population of western monarch, Danaus plexippus, is in crisis. The story in this talk focuses on aspects habitat structure which are easily modified in restoration practice – providing access to shade structure near breeding habitat. Finally, Oregon silverspot, Speyeria zerene hippolyta, was listed in 1980 as threatened and is still highly at-risk. In this story I talk about recent experimental work which suggests on-the-ground management to reduce thatch and invasive grasses could substantially increase larval survival. Together these stories emphasize the importance of field-based studies which quantify demographic responses to management and can be used as building blocks in effective conservation planning.
