Within‑habitat vegetation structure and adult activity patterns of the declining butterfly Euphydryas aurinia

0569121 - BC 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Konvička, Martin - Hula, V. - Vlašánek, P. - Zimmermann, K. - Faltýnek Fric, Zdeněk
Within‑habitat vegetation structure and adult activity patterns of the declining butterfly Euphydryas aurinia.
Journal of Insect Conservation. Roč. 27, č. 2 (2023), s. 335-346. ISSN 1366-638X. E-ISSN 1572-9753
R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) SS01010526
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : butterfly behaviour * grassland conservation * heterogeneity
OECD category: Biodiversity conservation
Impact factor: 1.9, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10841-023-00459-x.pdf?pdf=button

Background: Euphydryas aurinia is a declining butterfly inhabiting oligotrophic grasslands in Central and Western Europe. Despite numerous ecological studies, patterns of its adult activity have so far been rather neglected, although adult resource use contributes to resource-based understanding of insects’ habitats.
Aim: To relate E. aurinia adult activity patterns to within-habitat vegetation structures.
Methods: (1) Timed adult activity observations along a transect crossing a colony site, analysed via partial ordination methods. (2) Activity records obtained during mark-recapture, analysed via binomial regressions.
Results: Both methods, besides influences of weather, time of day (similarities between morning and late afternoon hours), and progression of season (mate locating replaced by maintenance activities), revealed consistent association of behaviours to vegetation structures. Of the two male mate-locating behaviours, perching occurred near shrubs and woodland edges, and patrolling over centres of inhabited meadows. Female activity concentrated in nectar-rich mid-height sward near host plants. Consequently, male and female activity were partly spatially separated.
Implications for conservation: A habitat for E. aurinia should provide resources for all its activities in close proximity. Grasslands containing host plants should be dissected by structures such as shrubs, woodlot edges, or taller herbaceous vegetation, emphasising the importance of landscape heterogeneity for insect fauna.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0349830