Biodiversity accounts for the butterflies of the Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

Biodiversity accounting is promoted as a way of improving the conservation of species and ecosystems. Advancing the theory and practice of biodiversity accounting is driven by the United Nation's standardization of ecosystem accounting in 2021 and a desire to make production of ecosystem accounts commonplace and useful. While the theory of biodiversity accounting has advanced, in practice few accounts have been produced and all have focused on iconic or threatened species. We present a set of novel biodiversity accounts for the 92 butterfly species of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), spanning 1978–2021, using historical records and systematic surveys of 224 sites between 2014–15 and 2020–21 in the Southern Hemisphere survey season (Spring‐Autum). We conclude that species level biodiversity accounting is useful for biodiversity conservation and that species accounting must go beyond accounting for iconic and threatened species and reflect other characteristics, such as the distribution, abundance, residential status, breeding status, endemism, and ecological status of all species. Habitat specialization provides a link to ecosystem condition accounting, with changes in the distribution and abundance of habitat specialists a likely indicator of ecosystem condition. With such information, species accounts can be used to assess and target conservation activity and examples for ACT butterflies are provided.

Review of the Australian butterfly genus Cyprotides Tite, 1963 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), with descriptions of three new taxa

“…The recent discovery of Cyprotides maculosus is remarkable given that the taxonomic inventory of Australian butterfly fauna is estimated to be relatively close to completion (Braby & Williams 2016). It is even more remarkable given that the species occurs within 50 km of Canberra, Australia's capital city, and that the ACT has been particularly well inventoried (Bond 2016; Bond & Vardon 2022; Kitching et al 1978). The species was only detected positively (photographed) in 2017 and the first specimen was not collected until 2019, highlighting that fundamental gaps still exist in our basic knowledge of well‐known groups of Australian biodiversity (Taxonomy Decadal Plan Working Group 2018).…”

“…The geographic range of the nominate subspecies is restricted to include only the central coastal areas of New South Wales and adjacent areas along the Great Dividing Range (i.e., Sydney Sandstone), from Tuncurry through Sydney and the Blue Mountains to ~20 km NNE of Braidwood. A male, in worn condition, collected from the ACT, at Bulls Head (1360 m) on 15 November 1979 by W. Graham, most likely represents a vagrant from further east because the species is not established in the ACT (Bond 2016; Bond & Vardon 2022; Kitching et al 1978) and more recent searches at this site have not yielded additional material (M.F. Braby, unpublished data).…”

“…Prior to the 2020 flight season, C. maculosus was known from only five records, most comprising observations or photographs; only a single vouchered specimen was collected in 2019 (see Introduction). One of these photographs—a male at Boboyan Trig, Namadgi NP, ACT, by M. Frawley on 30 September 2017—was published by Bond (2018) under the name Candalides cyprotus .…”

“…It was next recorded nine years later on the Yerrabi Track, Namadgi National Park, ACT, where a male in fresh condition was photographed at Boboyan Trig (1400 m) on 30 September 2017 by Matthew Frawley. This photograph was subsequently published by Bond (2018) under the name Candalides cyprotus . Based on this recent record, a preliminary search was conducted in southern Namadgi National Park during the Bush Blitz biodiversity survey of the Australian Capital Territory, 26 November–6 December 2018 (Bush Blitz 2020) through the Bush Blitz biodiversity survey program, a partnership between the Australian Government's Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS)/Parks Australia, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia (Preece et al 2015), but the species was not detected.…”

A new species of Paralucia Waterhouse & Turner, 1905 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from the highlands of south‐eastern Australia

“…In 2021, a new population of Paralucia , provisionally identified as P. spinifera (Bond & Vardon 2022), was discovered in the mountains of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), approximately 250 km SSW of the known sites of P. spinifera in the central highlands (Bathurst‐Lithgow‐Oberon area). The population was first detected in Namadgi National Park, ACT, along the Brandy Flat Fire Trail (1030 m) at 1142 h AEST on 12 August 2021 by Susan Wishart.…”