Floral diversity increases butterfly diversity in a multitrophic metacommunity

Gordon, Susan C C; Kerr, Jeremy T.

doi:10.1002/ecy.3735

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 65 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…The high density of strong dispersers in isolated sites highlights the disproportionate conservation value of isolated habitats, consistent with previous work (Wintle et al, 2019). In a previous study we found that predators may not need to be considered for conserving diverse butterfly communities (Gordon & Kerr, 2022), but here we found that they might alter community composition. Predators may affect the number of strong dispersers who stay at a site, so if maintaining a community of strong dispersers is a goal, these factors should be considered.…”

Section: Effectsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The study was conducted in Burnt Lands Provincial Park in Ottawa, Canada (Figure 1). This area encompasses a globally rare alvar ecosystem, and its utility for research has been demonstrated (Gordon & Kerr, 2022). The ecosystem is characterized by pockets of bare rock and shallow soils that host grassland habitat, set within a matrix dominated by forest with patches of wetland.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For sites over 2 ha, we marked one additional quadrat for each additional 2 ha of site area. We identified and counted all flowers that were open at the time of the surveys and adjusted our counts based on the type of inflorescence (e.g., umbellet vs. spike; Gordon & Kerr, 2022).…”

Section: Butterfly and Plant Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We summed the number of models that were attacked across species for each site as a measurement of predation pressure per site. Some models had distinctive markings left by grasshoppers, which can scavenge insect carcasses (Gordon & Kerr, 2022). These marks included bites around wing edges and shallow markings on the body; no models had both scavenger and predator marks.…”

Section: Butterfly Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dispersal mediates trophic interactions and habitat connectivity to alter metacommunity composition

Gordon,

Martin,

Kerr

2023

Ecology

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Dispersal contributes vitally to metacommunity structure. However, interactions between dispersal and other key processes have rarely been explored, particularly in the context of multitrophic metacommunities. We investigated such a metacommunity in naturally fragmented habitats populated by butterfly species (whose dispersal capacities were previously assessed), flowering plants, and butterfly predators. Using data on butterfly species abundance, floral abundance, and predation (on experimentally placed clay butterfly models), we asked how dispersal ability mediates interactions with predators, mutualists, and the landscape matrix. In contrast to expectations, high densities of strong dispersers were found in more isolated sites and sites with low floral resource density, while intermediate dispersers maintained similar densities across isolation and floral gradients, and higher densities of poor dispersers were found in more connected sites and sites with higher floral density. These findings raise questions about how strong dispersers experience the landscape matrix and the quality of isolated and low‐resource sites. Strong dispersers were able to escape habitat patches with high predation, while intermediate dispersers maintained similar densities along a predation gradient, and poor dispersers occurred at high densities in these patches, exposing them to interactions with predators. This work demonstrates that species that vary in dispersal capacities interact differently with predators and mutualist partners in a landscape context, shaping metacommunity composition.

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Section: Effectsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Butterfly and Plant Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Butterfly Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dispersal mediates trophic interactions and habitat connectivity to alter metacommunity composition

Gordon,

Martin,

Kerr

2023

Ecology

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“…Field sites were located in Burnt Lands Provincial Park situated 30 km west of Ottawa, ON, which hosts an alvar ecosystem interspersed with mostly coniferous tree stands. Fifteen sites of varying sizes separated by a minimum of 20 m of forested area were selected ( Gordon & Kerr, 2022 ). All sites consisted of open areas and clearings.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High resolution thermal remote sensing and the limits of species’ tolerance

Ednie

Kerr

2022

PeerJ

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Extinction risks for many insect species, particularly across very broad spatial extents, have been linked to the growing frequency and severity of temperatures that exceed the boundaries of their realized niches. Measurement and mitigation of such impacts is hindered by the availability of high-resolution measurements of species-specific severity of extreme weather, especially temperature. While techniques enabling interpolation of broad-scale remote sensing metrics are vital for such efforts, direct remote sensing measurements of thermal conditions could improve habitat management by providing detailed insights that interpolative approaches cannot. Advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology have created opportunities to better evaluate the role of microclimates in local species extinctions. Here, we develop a method to create high-resolution maps of microclimates using UAV and thermal imaging technology that use species’ realized niche boundaries to assess potential effects of severity of extreme temperatures. We generated air temperature maps (5 cm resolution) and canopy height maps (1 cm resolution) for 15 sites in a rare alvar ecosystem in eastern Ontario. We validated these remote sensing observations against independent, in situ temperature observations using iButtons. Temperature observations were accurate and related to physical heterogeneity in alvar habitats. We converted temperature measures into estimates of proximity of thermal niche boundaries for three butterfly species found during field surveys. This is the first time that this method has been applied to high resolution remote sensing observations and offers potential to assess the availability and adequacy of microclimates within habitats at resolutions relevant for conservation management.

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Taxonomic and functional homogenization of butterfly communities along an urban gradient

Rivest,

Kharouba

2024

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Urbanization is a major cause of global insect declines, yet some species can persist, and even thrive, in cities. Research on butterflies frequently report reduced diversity in urban habitats compared to rural ones, but less is known about whether urbanization favours butterflies with specific functional traits. Further, few studies have evaluated whether urbanization leads to the biotic homogenization of butterfly communities, despite being frequently reported for other taxa. Here, we investigate how butterfly community composition changes along an urban gradient by surveying 44 sites around Montréal, Quebec, Canada. We test the hypothesis that urban butterfly communities are homogenized at the taxonomic and functional levels. We found clear differences in the structure of urban versus rural butterfly communities with urban areas favouring a few, highly abundant, non‐native species. These shifts were defined by losses of native species richness and abundance combined with increases in non‐native species abundance. For most of the butterfly community, species with longer flight periods were more common in urban areas. Finally, urban communities were homogenized at the taxonomic and functional levels as demonstrated by reductions in beta diversity and variation in several key functional traits (wingspan, larval diet breadth, oviposition style) in urban habitats compared to rural ones. Overall, urban habitats in this region support less diverse butterfly communities that are homogenized. Since urban areas are growing worldwide, a better understanding of how biotic homogenization arises and what its consequences are will be key to guiding future conservation efforts.

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Floral diversity increases butterfly diversity in a multitrophic metacommunity

Cited by 4 publications

References 65 publications

Dispersal mediates trophic interactions and habitat connectivity to alter metacommunity composition

Dispersal mediates trophic interactions and habitat connectivity to alter metacommunity composition

High resolution thermal remote sensing and the limits of species’ tolerance

Taxonomic and functional homogenization of butterfly communities along an urban gradient

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