Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The last population of the Woodland Brown butterfly (Lopinga achine) in the Czech Republic: habitat use, demography and site management

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Insect Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 25 January 2008

Abstract

The distribution of Lopinga achine (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) in the Czech Republic has declined from thirty grid squares before 1950 to just one extant population, restricted to a single area of deciduous woodland. A review of historical sites shows that this species used to occur in various types of deciduous woodland with a relatively sparse canopy maintained by coppicing and/or grazing. The extant population inhabits mature woodland with a mean canopy cover of 60% (quartiles 50% and 65%), sparse shrubs and a species-rich herb layer containing plant species requiring dry, warm and nutrient-poor conditions. The larval host plants are the fine-leafed sedges, Carex fritschii and C. michelii. In 2006, the total population contained about 10,000 adults but this may be an over-estimate, biased by male behaviour. Measurements of adult mobility, well approximated by an inverse-power function, suggested that all existing colonies are interconnected by dispersal. Continuing existence of the population depends on two conditions; nutrient-poor conditions for a diverse ground flora and a sparse tree canopy. While canopy closure is gradually increasing, the herb layer is threatened by soil enrichment due to the demise of traditional grazing, litter raking and grass mowing in woodlands. Any future management to favour Lopinga achine should include both measures to maintain a sparse canopy and measures to export biomass, such as raking or mowing of ground flora or, preferably, re-establishment of grazing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Benes J, Konvicka M (2006) Denní motýli v národních maloploškách: první poznatky z celostátní inventarizace. Ochrana Prirody 61:145–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Benes J, Kuras T (1997) Dlouhodobé změny diverzity heliofilních motýlů (Lepidoptera) Opavské pahorkatiny a Nízkého Jeseníku (Česká republika). I Cas Slez Muz Opava (A) 46:135–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Benes J, Cizek O, Dovala J, Konvicka M (2006) Intensive game keeping, coppicing and butterflies: the story of Milovicky Wood, Czech Republic. Forest Ecol Manag 237:353–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benes J, Konvicka M, Dvorak J, Fric Z, Havelda Z, Pavlicko A, Vrabec V, Weidenhoffer Z (2002) Butterflies of the Czech Republic: distribution and conservation I. SOM, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergman KO (1996) [2000] Oviposition, host plant choice and survival of a grass feeding butterfly, the Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine) (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae). J Res Lepidoptera 35:9–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergman KO (1999) Habitat utilization by Lopinga achine (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) larvae and ovipositing females: implications for conservation. Biol Conserv 88:69–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman KO (2001) Population dynamics and the importance of habitat management for conservation of the butterfly Lopinga achine. J Appl Ecol 38:1303–1313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman KO, Kindvall O (2004) Population viability analysis of the butterfly Lopinga achine in a changing landscape in Sweden. Ecography 27:49–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman KO, Landin J (2001) Distribution of occupied and vacant sites and migration of Lopinga achine (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) in a fragmented landscape. Biol Conserv 102:183–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman KO, Landin J (2002) Population structure and movements of a threatened butterfly (Lopinga achine) in a fragmented landscape in Sweden. Biol Conserv 108:361–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borhidi A (1995) Social behaviour types, the naturalness and relative ecological indicator values of the higher plants in the Hungarian Flora. Acta Bot Hung 39:97–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun-Blanquet J (1964) Pflanzensoziologie, Grundzüge der Vegetationskunde, 3rd edn. Springer, Wien

    Google Scholar 

  • Cizek O, Konvicka M (2005) What is a patch in a dynamic metapopulation? Mobility of an endangered woodland butterfly, Euphydryas maturna. Ecography 28:791–800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chytry M., Kucera T, Koci N (eds) (2001) Katalog biotopů České republiky. AOPK, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellenberg H, Weber HE, Düll R, Wirth V, Werner W, Paulissen D (1992) Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa, 2nd edn. Scr Geobotanica 18:1–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Freese A, Benes J, Bolz R, Cizek O, Dolek M, Geyer A, Gros P, Konvicka M, Liegl A, Stettmer C (2006) Habitat use of the endangered butterfly Euphydryas maturna and forestry in Central Europe. Anim Conserv 9: 388–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fric Z, Konvicka M (2007) Dispersal kernels of butterflies: power-law functions are invariant to marking frequency. Basic Appl Ecol (in press)

  • Greatorex-Davies JN, Sparks TH, Hall ML, Marrs RH (1993) The influence of shade on butterflies in rides of coniferized lowland woods in southern England and implications for conservation management. Biol Conserv 63:31–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmeister J, Mihaljevic M, Hosek J, Sadlo J (2002) Eutrophication of deciduous forests in the Bohemian Karst (Czech Republic): the role of nitrogen and phosphorus. Forest Ecol Manag 169:213–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horváth F, Dobolyi Z, Morschhauser T, Lokos L, Karas L, Szerdahelyi T (1995) Flora adatbázis 1.2.—taxonlista es attributum allomany. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Vacrátót

    Google Scholar 

  • Höttinger H, Pennerstorfer J (1999) Rote Listen ausgewählter Tiergruppen Niederösterreichs—tagfalter (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera & Hesperiidae), 1 Fassung 1999. NÖ Landesregierung Abt Naturshcutz, St Pölten

    Google Scholar 

  • Ide JY (2004) Diurnal and seasonal changes in the mate-locating behavior of the satyrine butterfly Lethe diana. Ecol Res 19:189–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ide J, Kondoh M (2000) Male-female evolutionary game on mate-locating behaviour and evolution of mating systems in insects. Ecol Lett 3:433–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakubowska-Gabara J (1996) Decline of Potentillo albae-quercetum Libb 1933 phytocoenoses in Poland. Vegetatio 124:45–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konvicka M (1999) Macrolepidoptera of the Litovelské Pomoraví protected landscape area—I. Cas Slez Muz Opava (A) 48:41–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Konvicka M, Kuras T (1999) Population structure and the selection of oviposition sites of the endangered butterfly Parnassius mnemosyne (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in the Litovelske Pomoravi, Czech Republic. J Insect Conserv 3:211–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konvicka M, Benes J, Kuras T (2002) Microdistribution and diurnal behaviour of two sympatric mountain butterflies (Erebia epiphron and E. euryale): relations to vegetation and weather. Biologia 57:223–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Konvicka M, Cizek O, Filipova L, Fric Z, Benes J, Krupka M, Zamecnik J, Dockalova Z (2005) For whom the bells toll: demography of the last population of the butterfly Euphydryas maturna in the Czech Republic. Biologia 60:551–557

    Google Scholar 

  • Kralicek M, Gottwald A (1984) Motyli jihovychodni Moravy I [Butterflies of Southeast Moravia I]. Okresni Museum & OV CSOP, Uhersky Brod & Uherske Hradiste

    Google Scholar 

  • Kralicek M, Gottwald A (1987) Motyli jihovychodni Moravy IIII [Butterflies of Southeast Moravia I]. Okresni Museum & OV CSOP, Uhersky Brod & Uherske Hradiste

    Google Scholar 

  • Kudrna O (2002) The distribution atlas of European butterflies. Oedippus 20:1–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Lastuvka Z (1994) Motýli rozšířeného území CHKO Pálava. Agronomická fakulta VSZ, Brno

    Google Scholar 

  • Lastuvka Z, Marek J (2002) Lepidoptera of the Moravian Karst—diversity, communities and protection. Korax, Blansko

    Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton JD, Burnham KP, Clobert J, Anderson DR (1992) Modeling survival and testing biological hypotheses using marked animals—a unified approach with case studies. Ecol Monogr 62:67–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lekes V (2000) Motýli (Lepidoptera) Rožd’álovické tabule. Práce muzea Kolíně, Řada přírodovědná 4:45–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Lepidopterologen Arbeitsgruppe (1987) Tagfalter und ihre lebensräume. Fotorotar, Egg

    Google Scholar 

  • Leps J, Smilauer P (2003) Multivariate analysis of ecological data using CANOCO. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard E, Woiwod IP, Greatorex-Davies JN, Yates TJ, Welch RC (1998) The spread of coarse grasses and changes in numbers of lepidoptera in a woodland nature reserve. Biol Conserv 84:17–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolecek J (2005) Vegetation types of dry-mesic oak forests in Slovakia. Preslia 77:241–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider C (2003) The influence of spatial scale on quantifying insect dispersal: an analysis of butterfly data. Ecol Entomol 28:252–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schtickzelle N, Baguette M, Le Boulenge E (2003) Modelling insect demography from capture-recapture data: comparison between the constrained linear models and the Jolly–Seber analytical method. Can Entomol 135:313–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schtickzelle N, Le Boulenge E, Baguette M (2002) Metapopulation dynamics of the bog fritillary butterfly: demographic processes in a patchy population. Oikos 97:349–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiova L (1973) Vyskyt dennich motylu v oblasti Oderskych vrchu, Jeseniku a Hlucinske pahorkatiny. Entomol Zpravodaj (Ostrava) 3(2,3):1–20,1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Tybirk K, Strandberg B (1999) Oak forest development as a result of historical land-use patterns and present nitrogen deposition. Forest Ecol Manag 114:97–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Swaay CAM, Warren MS (1999) Red Data book of European butterflies (Rhopalocera). Nature and Environment 99 Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahlberg N (1998) The life history and ecology of Euphydryas maturna (Nymphalidae: Melitaeini) in Finland. Nota Lepid 21:154–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren MS (1985) The influence of shade on butterfly numbers in woodland rides, with special reference to the wood white Leptidea sinapis. Biol Conserv 33:147–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren MS (1987) The ecology and conservation of the heath fritillary, Mellicta athalia. III. Population dynamics and the effect of habitat management. J Appl Ecol 24:499–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren MS (1991) The successful conservation of an endangered species, the heath fritillary butterfly Mellicta athalia, in Britain. Biol Conserv 55:37–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren MS, Key RS (1991) Woodlands: past, present and potential for insects. In: Collins NM, Thomas JA (eds) The conservation of insects and their habitats. Academic Press, London, pp 155–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Weidemann HJ (1995) Tagfalter beobachten, bestimmen. Naturbuch, Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Whigham DF (2004) Ecology of woodland herbs in temperate deciduous forests. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 35:583–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank D. Cizkova, J. Dovala, P. Dufkova, L. Honc, J. Patera, J. Piszkiewicz, L. Spitzer for enjoyable companionship in the field. Zuzana Veverkova, our fellow zoologist who was born in a village next to the wood, recalled collecting grass in the wood with her grandmother in the late 1970s. Lepidopterists L. Honc, M. Kralicek, L. Stiova and J. Uricar, and botanists M. Chytry, V. Grulich and J. Rolecek informed us on their observations from historical Lopinga achine sites. We acknowledge funding by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (526/04/0417), Czech Department of Environment (VaV/620/1/03) and Education (LC06073).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    Martin Konvicka, Jan Novak, Zdenek Fric & Jan Hrcek

  2. Institute of Entomology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    Martin Konvicka, Jiri Benes & Zdenek Fric

  3. Verdant Ecology, Home Farm, Broadmoor, Abinger Common, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6JY, UK

    Jonathan Bradley

  4. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 128 44, Praha 2, Czech Republic

    Petr Keil

  5. Nature Conservation Authority of the Czech Republic, Nuselska 39, 140 00, Praha 4, Czech Republic

    Karel Chobot & Pavel Marhoul

Authors
  1. Martin Konvicka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan Novak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiri Benes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zdenek Fric
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jonathan Bradley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Petr Keil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jan Hrcek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Karel Chobot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Pavel Marhoul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Konvicka.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9136-7

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Konvicka, M., Novak, J., Benes, J. et al. The last population of the Woodland Brown butterfly (Lopinga achine) in the Czech Republic: habitat use, demography and site management. J Insect Conserv 12, 549–560 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-007-9087-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-007-9087-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation