Butterflies of Northeastern Alberta

Bird, C. D.; Hilchie, G. J.; Kondla, Norbert G.; Smith, W. W.; Kuyt, Ernie; Ryan, John; Thormin, T.

doi:10.29173/bluejay4695

Cited by 10 publications

(131 citation statements)

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“…One lycaenid of conservation interest is the cranberry blue, Agriades optilete ( Figure 1). In spite of its Holarctic distribution, cranberry blue populations are poorly known in Canada [25], seem sensitive to forest disturbance [16,26], and are expected to suffer the effects of climate change [6]. Cranberry blues are considered "imperiled" in Alberta [27], with less than 20 populations known [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cranberry blues are considered "imperiled" in Alberta [27], with less than 20 populations known [25]. Information on this species' ecology is scarce and there are concerns that these few populations, generally inhabiting boreal treed peatlands [25], will be negatively affected by increasing natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Extraction of oil sands affects large areas of the Alberta boreal biome [16,28], while wildfires in these forests are becoming more frequent and severe [29], yet it is unknown which specific conditions and sites cranberry blues inhabit, and how this species responds to these different sources of forest disturbance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seismic lines are narrow (usually <10 m) and widespread (up to 40 km/km 2 ), while well pads are localized, rectangular clearings (usually 0.36-1 ha in the case of exploratory wells) [12,31]. While current best-management practices aim to reduce seismic line width (<5 m) [31], a legacy of wider (~10 m wide) corridors persist on the landscape after decades of their development [28], affecting forest structure and abiotic conditions [32], and in turn In spite of its Holarctic distribution, cranberry blue populations are poorly known in Canada [25], seem sensitive to forest disturbance [16,26], and are expected to suffer the effects of climate change [6]. Cranberry blues are considered "imperiled" in Alberta [27], with less than 20 populations known [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While current best-management practices aim to reduce seismic line width (<5 m) [31], a legacy of wider (~10 m wide) corridors persist on the landscape after decades of their development [28], affecting forest structure and abiotic conditions [32], and in turn In spite of its Holarctic distribution, cranberry blue populations are poorly known in Canada [25], seem sensitive to forest disturbance [16,26], and are expected to suffer the effects of climate change [6]. Cranberry blues are considered "imperiled" in Alberta [27], with less than 20 populations known [25]. Information on this species' ecology is scarce and there are concerns that these few populations, generally inhabiting boreal treed peatlands [25], will be negatively affected by increasing natural and anthropogenic disturbances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We hypothesized that cranberry blue prefers treed bogs and fens, i.e., "wet" peatland forests with short canopy heights [25], and that the narrow seismic line disturbances do not pose a threat to this species, while larger disturbances of well pads and severe wildfires negatively affect cranberry blue abundance [16,26,36,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution of Cranberry Blue Butterflies (Agriades optilete) and Their Responses to Forest Disturbance from In Situ Oil Sands and Wildfires

2018

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Cranberry blues (Agriades optilete) are butterflies of conservation interest worldwide. Less than 20 populations are known in Alberta, Canada, mostly inhabiting boreal forests that are increasingly fragmented by oil sands developments and subject to wildfires. We modeled the abundance of cranberry blues in the boreal forests of Alberta’s Wood Buffalo Region as a function of forest characteristics, presence of disturbances associated with in situ oil sands exploration, and wildfire disturbance, while accounting for butterfly detectability as a function of sampling conditions. We counted 188 cranberry blues during 1280 samples, discovering 14 unknown populations using a species distribution model based on forest wetness and canopy height. Probability of detection peaked around 5th July, and at higher temperatures and in the absence of wind, with cranberry blues preferring wetter treed peatland forests with low canopy heights. Seismic lines were positively related to the abundance of cranberry blues (400% increase), while exploratory well pads and wildfires were negatively related (60% and 90% loss, respectively). Overall, cranberry blue populations are small and locally sensitive to both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Despite a narrow habitat specificity, cranberry blues seem more widely distributed than previously thought in northern Alberta (57% of the study area deemed suitable).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Distribution of Cranberry Blue Butterflies (Agriades optilete) and Their Responses to Forest Disturbance from In Situ Oil Sands and Wildfires

2018

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Deceptive single‐locus taxonomy and phylogeography: Wolbachia‐associated divergence in mitochondrial DNA is not reflected in morphology and nuclear markers in a butterfly species

Kodandaramaiah

Simonsen

Bromilow

et al. 2013

Ecology and Evolution

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The satyrine butterfly Coenonympha tullia (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) displays a deep split between two mitochondrial clades, one restricted to northern Alberta, Canada, and the other found throughout Alberta and across North America. We confirm this deep divide and test hypotheses explaining its phylogeographic structure. Neither genitalia morphology nor nuclear gene sequence supports cryptic species as an explanation, instead indicating differences between nuclear and mitochondrial genome histories. Sex-biased dispersal is unlikely to cause such mito-nuclear differences; however, selective sweeps by reproductive parasites could have led to this conflict. About half of the tested samples were infected by Wolbachia bacteria. Using multilocus strain typing for three Wolbachia genes, we show that the divergent mitochondrial clades are associated with two different Wolbachia strains, supporting the hypothesis that the mito-nuclear differences resulted from selection on the mitochondrial genome due to selective sweeps by Wolbachia strains.

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Hybrid dynamics in a species group of swallowtail butterflies

Dupuis

Sperling

2016

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Hybrid zones provide unique natural laboratories for studying mechanisms of evolution. But identification and classification of hybrid individuals (F1, F2, backcross, etc.) can be complicated by real population changes over time as well as by use of different marker types, both of which challenge documentation of hybrid dynamics. Here, we use multiple genetic markers (mitochondrial DNA, microsatellites and genomewide single nucleotide polymorphisms) to re-examine population structure in a hybrid zone between two species of swallowtail butterflies in western Canada, Papilio machaon and P. zelicaon. Our aim was to test whether their hybrid dynamics remain the same as found 30 years ago using morphology and allozymes, and we compared different genetic data sets as well as alternative hybrid identification and classification methods. Overall, we found high differentiation between the two parental species, corroborating previous research from the 1980s. We identified fewer hybrid individuals in the main zone of hybridization in recent years, but this finding depended on the genetic markers considered. Comparison of methods with simulated data sets generated from our data showed that single nucleotide polymorphisms were more powerful than microsatellites for both hybrid identification and classification. Moreover, substantial variation among comparisons underlined the value of multiple markers and methods for documenting evolutionarily dynamic systems.

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Butterflies of Northeastern Alberta

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Distribution of Cranberry Blue Butterflies (Agriades optilete) and Their Responses to Forest Disturbance from In Situ Oil Sands and Wildfires

Distribution of Cranberry Blue Butterflies (Agriades optilete) and Their Responses to Forest Disturbance from In Situ Oil Sands and Wildfires

Deceptive single‐locus taxonomy and phylogeography: Wolbachia‐associated divergence in mitochondrial DNA is not reflected in morphology and nuclear markers in a butterfly species

Hybrid dynamics in a species group of swallowtail butterflies

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