Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Support for mending the matrix: resource seeking by butterflies in apparent non-resource zones

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

Abstract

In conserving organisms, a bipolar view has generally been adopted of landscapes, in which resources are allocated to patches of habitats and the matrix ignored. Allocating additional resources to the matrix would depend on two conditions: first, that organisms search for resources in landscapes regardless of differences in vegetation types and resource availability; second, that when resources occur in the matrix they are used by species. Behavioural data linked to biotope and substrate types, on three pierid species (Pieris brassicae, P. rapae, P. napi), have been examined to explore the relationship between flight modes and resource availability. Search flight and resource use, taken as measures of resource quests, occur extensively in all biotopes and over all substrates in addition to direct linear flight, more typical of butterflies when migrating between habitat units. Resource seeking and using even exceed direct flight in some biotopes that have been regarded generally as lacking in resources for these butterflies. For example, such is the case for P. brassicae in woodland and for P. rapae in scrub. This finding supports the view for repairing the matrix and enhancing the general countryside outside habitat patches with resources increasingly being made for organisms. The proviso is that species’ requirements are adequately researched and resourced so as not to become sinks.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asher J, Warren M, Fox R, Harding P, Jeffcoate G, Jeffcoate S (2001) The millennium atlas of butterflies in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker RR (1969) The evolution of the migratory habit in butterflies. J Anim Ecol 38:703–746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker RR (1978) The evolutionary ecology of animal migration. Hodder and Stoughton, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayliss JL, Simonite V, Thompson S (2005) The use of probabilistic habitat suitability models for biodiversity action planning. Agric Ecosyst Environ 108:228–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey PD, Manchester SJ, Firbank LG (2005) Performance of two agri-environment schemes in England: a comparison of ecological and multi-disciplinary evaluations. Agric Ecosyst Environ 108:178–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courtney SP (1988) Oviposition on peripheral hosts by dispersing Pieris napi (L.) (Pieridae). J Res Lepid 26:58–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH (ed) (1992) The ecology of butterflies in Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH (1993) Butterflies and climate change. Manchester University Press, Manchester

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH (2004a) Butterfly habitats, broad-scale biotope affiliations, and structural exploitation of vegetation at finer scales: the matrix revisited. Ecol Entomol 29:744–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH (2004b) Just how important are non-consumable resources as habitat components? Indications from a declining lycaenid butterfly with priority conservation status. J Insect Conserv 8:37–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH (2006) What host plants does Pieris brassicae L. (Pieridae) use away from urban environments? Entomologist’s Gaz 57:205–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Bardell P (1996) The impact of extreme weather on Great Orme populations of Hipparchia semele (Linnaeus, 1758) and Plebejus argus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Papilionoidea: Satyrinae and Lycaenidae): hindsight, inference and lost opportunities. Entomologist’s Gaz 47:211–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Eales HT (1997) Patch occupancy in Coenonympha tullia (Lepidoptera: Satyridae): habitat quality matters as much as patch size and isolation. J Insect Conserv 1:167–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Eales HT (1999) Probability of patch site occupancy in Coenonympha tullia (Müller) (Lepidoptera: Satryinae) determined from geographical and ecological data. Biol Conserv 87:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Shreeve TG (1996) Butterflies on British and Irish offshore islands. Gem Publishing Company, Wallingford, Oxon

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Shreeve TG, Van Dyck H (2003) Towards a functional resource-based concept for habitat: a butterfly biology viewpoint. Oikos 102:417–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Hodgson JG, Grenyer R, Shreeve TG, Roy DB (2004) Host plants and butterfly biology. Do host-plant strategies drive butterfly status? Ecol Entomol 29:12–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Shreeve TG, Isaac NJB, Roy DB, Hardy PB, Fox R, Asher J (2006a) The effects of visual apparency on bias in butterfly recording and monitoring. Biol Conserv 128:486–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Shreeve TG, Van Dyck H (2006b) Habitats and resources: the need for a resource-based definition to conserve butterflies. Biodiv Conserv 15:1943–1968

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis RLH, Shreeve TG, Sheppard DA (2006c) Species conservation and landscape management: a habitat perspective. In Stewart A, Lewis O, New T (eds) Insect conservation biology. Royal Entomological Society Symposium, London, CABI, Wallingford (in press)

  • Dover JW (1996) Factors affecting the distribution of butterflies on arable farmland. J Appl Ecol 33:723–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dover JW, Sparks T, Clarke S, Gobbett K, Glossop S (2000) Linear features and butterflies: the importance of green lanes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 80:227–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll DA (2005) Is the matrix a sea? Habitat specificity in a naturally fragmented landscape. Ecol Entomol 30:8–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich PR, Hanski I (eds) (2004) On the wings of checkerspots. A model system for population biology. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Field RG, Gardiner T, Mason CF, Hill J (2005) Agri-environment schemes and butterflies: the utilization of 6 m grass margins. Biodiv Conserv 14:1969–1976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grashof-Bokdam CJ, van Langevelde F (2005) Green veining: landscape determinants of biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes. Landscape Ecol 20:417–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanski IA, Gilpin ME (eds) (1997) Metapopulation biology. Ecology, genetics, and evolution. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy PB, Dennis RLH (1999) The impact of urban development on butterflies within a city region. Biodiv Conserv 8:1261–1279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herzog F (2005) Agri-environment schemes as landscape experiments – preface. Agric Ecosyst Environ 108:175–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirota T, Obara Y (2000) The influence of air temperature and sunlight intensity on mate-locating behavior of Pieris rapae crucivora. Zool Sci 17:1081–1087

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson JG, Grime JP, Wilson PJ, Thompson K, Band SR (2005) The impacts of agricultural change on the grassland flora of Central England: process and prospects. Basic Appl Ecol 6:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser L, Willis MA, Carde RT (1994) Flight manoeuvres used by a parasitic wasp to locate host-infested plant. Entomologia Ex Appl 70:285–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyytinen A, Alatalo RV, Lindstrom L, Mappes J (1999) Are European white butterflies aposematic? Evol Ecol 13:709–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matter SF, Roland J (2002) An experimental examination of the effects of habitat quality on the dispersal and local abundance of the butterfly Parnassius smintheus. Ecol Entomol 27:308–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattison EHA, Norris K (2005) Bridging the gap between agricultural policy, land use and biodiversity. Trends Ecol Evol 20:610–616

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Molleman F, van Alphen ME, Brakefield PM, Zwaan BJ (2005) Preferences and food quality of fruit-feeding butterflies in Kibale Forest, Uganda. Biotropica 37:657–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • New TR (1997) Butterfly conservation, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • New TR (2005) Invertebrate conservation and agricultural ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Omura H, Honda K (2005) Priority of color over scent during flower visitation by adult Vanessa indica butterflies. Oecologia 142:588–596

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ouin A, Aviron S, Dover J, Burel F (2004) Complementation/supplementation of resources for butterflies in agricultural landscapes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 103:473–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollard E, Yates TJ (1993) Monitoring butterflies for ecology and conservation. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Roland J, Keyghobadi N, Fownes S (2000) Alpine Parnassius butterfly dispersal. Effects of landscape and population size. Ecology 81:1642–1653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz S, Boppré M, Vane-Wright RI (1993) Specific mixtures of secretions from male scent organs of African Milkweed butterflies (Danainae). Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 342:161–181

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shreeve TG, Dennis RLH, Van Dyck H (2004) Resources, habitats and metapopulations – whither reality? Oikos 106:404–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spieth HR, Cordes RG, Dorka M (1998) Flight directions in the migratory butterfly Pieris brassicae: results from semi-natural experiments. Ethology 104:339–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srygley RB, Oliveira EG (2001) Sun compass and wind drift␣compensation in migrating butterflies. J Navig 54:405–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srygley RB, Kingsolver JG (1998) Red-wing blackbird reproductive behaviour and the palatability, flight performance, and morphology of temperate pierid butterflies (Colias, Pieris, and Pontia). Biol J Linn Soc 64:41–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statsoft (1999) STATISTICA for Windows 95/98/NT. Statsoft, Tulsa

    Google Scholar 

  • Stjernholm F, Karlsson B (2000) Nuptial gifts and the use of body resources for reproduction in the green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi. Proc R Soc Lond B 267:807–811

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas JA, Bourn NAD, Clarke RT, Stewart KE, Simcox DJ, Pearman GS, Curtis R, Goodger B (2001) The quality and isolation of habitat patches both determine where butterflies persist in fragmented landscapes. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:1791–1796

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tscharntke T, Klein AM, Kruess A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Thies C (2005) Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity-ecosystem service management. Ecol Lett 8:857–874

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dyck H, Baguette M (2005) Dispersal behaviour in fragmented landscapes: routine or special movements? Basic Appl Ecol 6:535–545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vane-Wright RI, Boppré M (1993) Visual and chemical signaling in butterflies – functional and phylogenetic perspectives. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 340:197–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

Our grateful thanks to John Dover and to two anonymous referees for their helpful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 2LS, UK

    R. L. H. Dennis

  2. 81 Winstanley Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 2AT, UK

    P. B. Hardy

Authors
  1. R. L. H. Dennis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. B. Hardy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. L. H. Dennis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dennis, R., Hardy, P. Support for mending the matrix: resource seeking by butterflies in apparent non-resource zones. J Insect Conserv 11, 157–168 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9032-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9032-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation