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How do adults of the critically endangered hermit butterfly (Chazara briseis) utilise their habitat? (Lepidoptera, Satyrinae)

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Abstract

Background

Effective conservation of specialised, endangered species depends on the knowledge of all vital resources they require within species’ lifetime. The butterfly Chazara briseis is endangered throughout Europe, especially so in all states north from the Alps. It depends on large areas of open steppe grassland with short and sparse turf.

Aim

To identify resource use by adult C. briseis butterflies in relation to vegetation structure within its sites.

Methods

We re-analysed mark-recapture data from the last Czech metapopulation, inhabiting a chain of volcanic hills in Ceske Stredohori highlands and hosting 2000 adults in 2006. We related adult activities observed prior to captures to visually assessed vegetation structures and land cover types obtained from aerial photographs. Additionally, we used land cover types to explore the adults’ home ranges and to compare capture points with randomly selected points.

Results

The butterflies displayed clearly structured diurnal activity with nectaring from morning to noon and courtship activities and egg-laying in the afternoons. Both sexes used short-sward patches (egg laying, patrolling), but also patches with taller, flower-rich vegetation (mating, nectaring). These results were corroborated using land cover types, however, with much lower explanatory power. Lifetime utilisation of land cover types (home ranges) differed between sexes, females utilised more shrubby and longer-sward areas than males. Randomly selected points within the sites significantly differed from capture points, the latter contained more open, either short or tall grassland patches.

Implications for Insect Conservation

Management of inhabited sites must provide open, short-sward patches alternating with flower-rich taller sward and shrubby patches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Pavel Vrba & Martin Konvička

  2. Faculty of Sciences, University South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Stanislav Grill & Martin Konvička

  3. Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Stanislav Grill

  4. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Suchdol, 165 00, Prague, Czech Republic

    Tomas Kadlec

  5. Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation, Žabovřeská 250, Zbraslav, 156 27, Prague 5, Czech Republic

    Vladimír Papaj

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  1. Pavel Vrba
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  2. Stanislav Grill
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Correspondence to Martin Konvička.

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Supplementary information

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10841_2020_287_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx

Electronic supplementary material 1 Spreadsheet table showing details of controlling the CCA analyses relating activities of Chasara briseis butterfly, as recorded during a mark-recapture study, to vegetation structures and land covers within its sites. In the left columns (“model terms not controlled for variance inflation factor”), variables listed in bold very intercorrelated with others. In the right columns (“model terms after control for variance inflation factors”), it is apparent that all intercorrelated variables were removed from the final models listed in Table 1. (XLSX 14 kb)

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Vrba, P., Grill, S., Kadlec, T. et al. How do adults of the critically endangered hermit butterfly (Chazara briseis) utilise their habitat? (Lepidoptera, Satyrinae). J Insect Conserv 25, 39–48 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-020-00287-3

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