The Poweshiek skipperling Oarisma poweshiek (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) is a historically common prairie butterfly with a range extending throughout the mesic prairies and prairie fens of the upper Midwestern United States and southern Manitoba, Canada. Rapid, range-wide declines have reduced the number of verified Poweshiek skipperling locations to seven, four of which occur in Michigan. To assist with monitoring and, ultimately, conservation efforts, we developed a habitat model using the software Maxent with ecological and geographical factors. Using a lowest-presence threshold methodology, our habitat suitability model indicated potentially high suitability in 26 of 138 prairie fens with no documentation of Poweshiek skipperling occurrence. The strongest predictors of suitable habitat in our model were prairie fen area and surrounding natural land cover. Wildlife managers can use results from this analysis to expand monitoring to include sites with suitable habitat where Poweshiek skipperling are not currently documented, in addition to identifying potential introduction sites.
The Poweshiek skipperling Oarisma poweshiek, Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae is a historically common prairie butterfly with a range extending throughout prairie systems of the upper midwestern United States and southern Manitoba, Canada. Rapid, range-wide declines have reduced the number of verified Poweshiek skipperling locations to one in Manitoba prairie, one in Wisconsin prairie, and four in prairie fens in Michigan. Our objective was to investigate parameter suites with the potential to be biologically relevant to Poweshiek skipperling occupancy with the goal of informing conservation efforts. At 18 prairie fens categorized as occupied (n = 9) or unoccupied (n = 9), we collected information on plant biodiversity, water chemistry, soil chemistry, site geometry, and surrounding current and historical land cover at three spatial scales. To address the complexity of these systems, we used multiresponse permutation procedures and nonmetric multidimensional scaling to explore associations between variable groups thought to be relevant to Poweshiek skipperling (conditions for suspected larval host plants, system integrity, and agricultural influence) and occupancy categories. We used indicator species analysis to understand the relationships between plant biodiversity and Poweshiek skipperling occupancy at whole- and intrafen scales. Multiresponse permutation procedures analysis suggested that conditions for suspected larval host plants differed between occupied and unoccupied prairie fens. At the whole-fen scale, we identified 14 plant species associated with Poweshiek-occupied sites, including two purported larval host plants, Muhlenbergia richardsonis and Schizachyrium scoparium. At the intrafen scale, we identified 52 species associated with unoccupied Poweshiek sites, including many weedy species and those tolerant of inundated conditions. Our results can inform the evaluation of potentially suitable habitat for introduction and reintroduction efforts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.