Life History Observations of Callophrys irus (Family: Lycaenidae) in North Florida, USA

McElveen, Dave; Jue, Dean K.; Jue, Sally Short; Craig, Virginia Dell

doi:10.18473/lepi.74i1.a6

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…For example, although the diversity of some insects decreases with time since fire (e.g., bees; Moylett et al, 2020), the diversity of other arthropods (e.g., ants, roaches, ground‐dwelling arthropods) respond more to habitat structure than to plant species diversity (Atchison et al, 2018; Hanula et al, 2009). Furthermore, some species (e.g., butterflies) may benefit from years without fire or at least from avoiding burning during the time of oviposition or larval development (McElveen et al, 2020). Suffice it to say that community‐level responses and responses of individual species must be considered when designing burn prescriptions to maximize biodiversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of fire‐maintained plant species diversity in species‐rich wet pine savannas

Brewer

2023

Ecosphere

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Temperate savannas and grasslands maintained by frequent, low‐intensity disturbances such as fire contain among the most species‐rich plant communities in the world. Precisely how these disturbances maintain such high fine‐scale diversity is poorly understood. This study examined the effects of the frequency of simulated fire (clipping combined with litter removal) and the relative importance of recruitment and survival on species diversity and trait and species composition at each of two pine savannas in southeastern Mississippi (USA) that had not been recently burned. Ten 2 × 2 m plots at each site were clipped/cleared annually from 2014 to 2019 and again in spring 2021 (annual frequency). The other 10 clipping plots were not clipped from 2018 to 2020 (reduced frequency). Vegetation in small subplots in annual frequency and reduced frequency plots was compared in August 2021 to test the effects of a short period without clipping on diversity and composition. To test the relative importance of recruitment and survival on diversity and composition, four 0.25 × 0.25 m quarter plots were established within each of 10 annual frequency plots per site following a clipping treatment in fall 2019 and assigned a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of transplantation of sods from long‐unburned areas and herbicide application. Reducing the frequency of clipping reduced plant diversity and altered composition at both sites. A comparison of diversity and trait composition responses to transplant and herbicide treatments revealed how recruitment and survival combined to affect species diversity. Partial or complete recovery of diversity following clipping and litter removal at both sites was driven by rapid increases in short‐lived, resilient species that show fire‐stimulated emergence from a seed bank and the persistence of long‐lived species capable of surviving the prolonged period without fire or clipping. Species with reduced resilience and persistence were more likely to be lost in the reduced frequency treatment. Results are consistent with a model of short‐term coexistence of maximum species diversity maintained by the most frequent fire regime fuels will permit.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of fire‐maintained plant species diversity in species‐rich wet pine savannas

Brewer

2023

Ecosphere

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“…Similarly, we found that frosted elfin populations may need at least 3 years to recover fully. That the recovery of frosted elfin populations takes multiple years since fire makes sense because it is a univoltine species and lays relatively few eggs even in southern latitudes (McElveen et al, 2020). Given that even some bivoltine butterfly species, such as the Karner's blue, may require 3 years to recover from burns, it seems especially unlikely that univoltine butterfly species, such as the frosted elfin, would be able to persist in areas managed with short one‐ to two‐year burn intervals, unless there are unburned refugia frequently found within larger burned areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our study took place from 2015 to 2021 in the Apalachicola National Forest (ANF) (Leon County, FL), south of Tallahassee, Florida in a sandhill forest area known as the Munson Sandhills (Figure 1). These sandhills are a subdivision of the larger Gulf Coastal Lowlands, where deep, sandy soils support a fire-adapted plant community characterized by longleaf pines and an open, grassy, and herbaceous understory (for more details see McElveen et al, 2020). This area is divided by the US Forest Service into burn units-the primary unit of management for prescribed burns-each with a distinct burn history varying in both fire return interval and fire seasonality.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we report on a 7-year study of a Florida metapopulation of the frosted elfin butterfly in which we investigate how the timing of burns influences population sizes. This metapopulation was recently discovered in fire-managed sandhill habitat in the North American southeastern coastal plain (Jue & Jue, 2010;Jue, 2017;McElveen et al, 2020), and extends over different land management units. Thus, we had an unusual opportunity to investigate the roles of prescribed burns on an imperiled butterfly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of frequency and season of fire on a metapopulation of an imperiled butterfly in a longleaf pine forest

Jue

Merwin

Jue

et al. 2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Maintaining fire-dependent habitat for species of conservation concern often requires a balancing act between the short-term costs of direct mortality caused by fires and the long-term benefits of ensuring high-quality habitat. To reduce risk to threatened populations, land managers may need to adjust the frequency with which they burn sites and, likely, mitigate the short-term costs of prescribed fires by not burning during a species' life stages that may be especially sensitive to fires. Few, if any, studies have investigated burn regimes for butterflies in longleaf pine forests-a once dominant habitat in the southeast United States-despite a long history and frequent usage of prescribed burns in these ecosystems. We surveyed a recently discovered metapopulation of frosted elfin (Callophrys irus) butterflies residing in longleaf pine forest over seven years at sites across nine management units with differing fire return intervals and fire seasonalities. We observed dramatic population declines after burns, with no adults observed at some sites in subsequent years. Our analyses demonstrate that populations may need at least three to 4 years to recover, and that burns in the spring, when frosted elfin eggs and larvae are found on hostplants, should be avoided if possible. In fact, our model suggests that the largest spring-burned sites have fewer than 20% of the adult elfins the year following a fire than do sites burned in other seasons. Land managers seeking to conserve frosted elfins and other butterflies with similar life histories may need to burn at times of the year that reduce direct mortality and with fire return intervals that are longer than the one-to two-year intervals recommended by some for maximizing the diversity of the herbaceous understory in longleaf pine forests.

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“…Growing-season fires may benefit insect conservation, occurring when adult insects are mobile or safely pupating ( Hermann et al 1998 ). For example, the rare, and listed as ‘vulnerable,’ frosted elfin butterfly C. irus occurs in the LLPE ( McElveen et al 2020 ) and likely survives fire while pupating in the soil ( Thom et al 2015 ). Numerous other insects pupate in the soil but live the rest of their life cycle above ground (other lepidopterans, beetles, and flies, including eye gnats, discussed in the Herbaceous Layer section).…”

Section: Subterraneanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arthropods and Fire Within the Biologically Diverse Longleaf Pine Ecosystem

Sheehan

Klepzig

2021

Annals of the Entomological Society of America

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The longleaf pine Pinus palustris Miller (Pinales: Pinaceae) ecosystem once covered as many as 37 million hectares across the southeastern United States. Through fire suppression, development, and conversion to other plantation pines, this coverage has dwindled to fewer than 2 million hectares. A recent focus on the restoration of this ecosystem has revealed its complex and biologically diverse nature. Arthropods of the longleaf pine ecosystem are incredibly numerous and diverse—functionally and taxonomically. To provide clarity on what is known about the species and their functional roles in longleaf pine forests, we thoroughly searched the literature and found nearly 500 references. In the end, we tabulated 51 orders 477 families, 1,949 genera, and 3,032 arthropod species as having been stated in the scientific literature to occur in longleaf pine ecosystems. The body of research we drew from is rich and varied but far from comprehensive. Most work deals with land management objective associated taxa such as pests of pine, pests of—and food for—wildlife (red-cockaded woodpecker, northern bobwhite quail, gopher tortoise, pocket gopher, etc.), and pollinators of the diverse plant understory associated with longleaf pine. We explored the complex role frequent fire (critical in longleaf pine management) plays in determining the arthropod community in longleaf pine, including its importance to rare and threatened species. We examined known patterns of abundance and occurrence of key functional groups of longleaf pine-associated arthropods. Finally, we identified some critical gaps in knowledge and provide suggestions for future research into this incredibly diverse ecosystem.

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Life History Observations of Callophrys irus (Family: Lycaenidae) in North Florida, USA

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

Mechanisms of fire‐maintained plant species diversity in species‐rich wet pine savannas

Mechanisms of fire‐maintained plant species diversity in species‐rich wet pine savannas

Effects of frequency and season of fire on a metapopulation of an imperiled butterfly in a longleaf pine forest

Arthropods and Fire Within the Biologically Diverse Longleaf Pine Ecosystem

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