Abstract
The conservation of most temperate grassland habitats and their characteristic fauna and flora requires regular low-intensive forms of land-use to counteract natural succession. Although many species tolerate moderate disturbance regimes, some are known to be susceptible to grazing or mowing, thereby causing a management dilemma. One of these species is the Woodland Ringlet butterfly, Erebia medusa. In this study, we analysed which environmental factors determine the occurrence of E. medusa in the Diemel Valley (Central Germany). Furthermore, we conducted microclimatic measurements during the winter months to investigate the role of the litter layer as a microclimatic buffer. Patch occupancy in the Diemel Valley was well explained by the amount of litter present in a patch and connectivity to other inhabited patches. The role of local climatic conditions could not be clarified, due to inter-correlations with connectivity. During the winter, the air temperature inside the litter layer was significantly less variable than above it. We conclude that the current distribution of E. medusa in the Diemel Valley is caused by the combined effect of habitat quality and connectivity, and perhaps also by climatic factors. The importance of the litter layer reflects the dependence of E. medusa on low-intensive or absent land-use. In addition, the litter layer possibly constitutes an essential habitat element, as it buffers temperature fluctuations and thus probably reduces the energy consumption of overwintering larvae. Given the species’ preference for abandoned grasslands, the conservation of E. medusa requires a low-intensity habitat management, for example, by rotational grazing or mowing of small parts of the sites. On the landscape level, the preservation of well-connected habitat networks is important.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anthes N, Fartmann T, Hermann G, Kaule G (2003) Combining larval habitat quality and metapopulation structure—the key for successful management of pre-alpine Euphydryas aurinia colonies. J Insect Conserv 7(3):175–185. doi:10.1023/a:1027330422958
Balmer O, Erhardt A (2000) Consequences of succession on extensively grazed grasslands for Central European butterfly communities: rethinking conservation practices. Conserv Biol 14(3):746–757. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.98612.x
Bolz R, Geyer A (2003) Rote Liste gefährdeter Tagfalter (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) Bayerns. In: Landesamt für Umweltschutz (ed) Rote Liste gefährdeter Tiere Bayerns. Schriftenreihe des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Umweltschutz, pp 217–222
Bräu M, Dolek M (2013) Wald-Wiesenvögelchen Coenonympha hero (Linneaus, 1758). In: Bräu M, Bolz R, Kolbeck H, Nunner A, Voith J, Wolf W (eds) Tagfalter in Bayern. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, pp 504–506
Bräu M, Dolek M, Stettmer C (2010) Habitat requirements, larval development and food preferences of the German population of the False Ringlet Coenonympha oedippus (Fabricius, 1787) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)—research on the ecological needs to develop management tools. Oedippus 26:41–51
Chevan A, Sutherland M (1991) Hierarchical partitioning. Am Stat 45(2):90–96. doi:10.2307/2684366
Cohen J (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educ Psychol Meas 20(1):37–46. doi:10.1177/001316446002000104
Dawson TP, Jackson ST, House JI, Prentice IC, Mace GM (2011) Beyond predictions: biodiversity conservation in a changing climate. Science 332(6025):53–58. doi:10.1126/science.1200303
Dennis RLH (2010) A resource-based habitat view for conservation: butterflies in the British landscape. Wiley, Oxford
Dennis RLH, Eales HT (1997) Patch occupancy in Coenonympha tullia (Muller, 1764) (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae): habitat quality matters as much as patch size and isolation. J Insect Conserv 1(3):167–176. doi:10.1023/a:1018455714879
Dennis RLH, Shreeve TG, Van Dyck H (2003) Towards a functional resource-based concept for habitat: a butterfly biology viewpoint. Oikos 102(2):417–426
Dover JW, Rescia A, Fungarino S, Fairburn J, Carey P, Lunt P, Dennis RLH, Dover CJ (2010) Can hay harvesting detrimentally affect adult butterfly abundance? J Insect Conserv 14(4):413–418. doi:10.1007/s10841-010-9267-5
Dover JW, Spencer S, Collins S, Hadjigeorgiou I, Rescia A (2011) Grassland butterflies and low intensity farming in Europe. J Insect Conserv 15(1–2):129–137. doi:10.1007/s10841-010-9332-0
Ebert G, Rennwald E (1991) Die Schmetterlinge Baden-Württembergs. Band 2, Tagfalter II, vol 2. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart
Eichel S, Fartmann T (2008) Management of calcareous grasslands for Nickerl’s fritillary (Melitaea aurelia) has to consider habitat requirements of the immature stages, isolation, and patch area. J Insect Conserv 12(6):677–688. doi:10.1007/s10841-007-9110-9
Ellenberg H, Leuschner C (2010) Vegetation Mitteleuropas mit den Alpen, 6th edn. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart
Erhardt A, Thomas JA (1991) Lepidoptera as indicators of change in the semi-natural grasslands of lowland and upland Europe. In: Collins NM, Thomas JA (eds) The conservation of insects and their habitats. Academic Press, London, pp 213–236
Fartmann T (2004). Die Schmetterlingsgemeinschaften der Halbtrockenrasen-Komplexe des Diemeltales—Biozönologie von Tagfaltern und Widderchen in einer alten Hudelandschaft. Abhandlungen aus dem Westfälischen Museum für Naturkunde, vol 66(1) Münster, pp 1–256
Fartmann T (2006) Oviposition preferences, adjacency of old woodland and isolation explain the distribution of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly (Hamearis lucina) in calcareous grasslands in central Germany. Ann Zool Fenn 43(4):335–347
Fartmann T, Hermann G (2006) Larvalökologie von Tagfaltern und Widderchen in Mitteleuropa—von den Anfängen bis heute. In: Fartmann T, Hermann G (eds) Larvalökologie von Tagfaltern und Widderchen in Mitteleuropa. Abhandlungen aus dem Westfälischen Museum für Naturkunde, vol 68(3/4), Münster, pp 11–57
Fielding AH, Bell JF (1997) A review of methods for the assessment of prediction errors in conservation presence/absence models. Environ Conserv 24(1):38–49. doi:10.1017/s0376892997000088
Freeman EA, Moisen GG (2008) A comparison of the performance of threshold criteria for binary classification in terms of predicted prevalence and kappa. Ecol Model 217(1–2):48–58. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.05.015
García-Barros E, Fartmann T (2009) Butterfly oviposition: sites, behaviour and modes. In: Settele J, Shreeve T, Konvicka M, Van Dyck H (eds) Ecology of butterflies in Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 29–42
Giraudoux P (2013) pgirmess: data analysis in ecology. R package version 1(5):7
Goffart P, Schtickzelle N, Turlure C (2010) Conservation and management of the habitats of two relict butterflies in the Belgian Ardenne: Proclossiana eunomia and Lycaena helle. In: Habel JC, Assmann T (eds) Relict species—phylogeography and conservation biology. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 357–370. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-92160-8
Hanski I (1998) Metapopulation dynamics. Nature 396(6706):41–49. doi:10.1038/23876
Hanski I (1999) Metapopulation ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Heikkinen RK, Luoto M, Kuussaari M, Poyry J (2005) New insights into butterfly–environment relationships using partitioning methods. Proc R Soc B-Biol Sci 272(1577):2203–2210. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3212
Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S (2000) Applied logistic regression. Wiley, New York
IVM (Institute for Environmental Studies) (2013) Agricultural land use intensity data. http://www.ivm.vu.nl/ag-intensity. Accessed 01.12.2013
Johst K, Drechsler M, Thomas J, Settele J (2006) Influence of mowing on the persistence of two endangered large blue butterfly species. J Appl Ecol 43(2):333–342. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01125.x
Konvicka M, Benes J, Cizek O, Kopecek F, Konvicka O, Vitaz L (2008) How too much care kills species: grassland reserves, agri-environmental schemes and extinction of Colias myrmidone (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) from its former stronghold. J Insect Conserv 12(5):519–525. doi:10.1007/s10841-007-9092-7
Krähenmann S, Bissolli P, Rapp J, Ahrens B (2011) Spatial gridding of daily maximum and minimum temperatures in Europe. Meteorol Atmos Phys 114(3–4):151–161. doi:10.1007/s00703-011-0160-x
Landis JR, Koch GG (1977) Measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33(1):159–174. doi:10.2307/2529310
Leopold P (2006) Die Larvalökologie des Waldteufels (Erebia aethiops) in Nordrhein-Westfalen und deren Bedeutung für den Erhalt der Art. In: Fartmann T, Hermann G (eds) Larvalökologie von Tagfaltern und Widderchen in Mitteleuropa. Abhandlungen aus dem Westfälischen Museum für Naturkunde, vol 68(3/4), Münster, pp 61–82
Lobenstein U (2003) Die Schmetterlingsfauna des mittleren Niedersachsens. Hannover
MacDonald D, Crabtree JR, Wiesinger G, Dax T, Stamou N, Fleury P, Lazpita JG, Gibon A (2000) Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: environmental consequences and policy response. J Environ Manag 59(1):47–69. doi:10.1006/jema.1999.0335
McCune B, Keon D (2002) Equations for potential annual direct incident radiation and heat load. J Veg Sci 13(4):603–606. doi:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02087.x
Menard S (2000) Coefficients of determination for multiple logistic regression analysis. Am Stat 54(1):17–24. doi:10.2307/2685605
Moilanen A, Nieminen M (2002) Simple connectivity measures in spatial ecology. Ecology 83(4):1131–1145. doi:10.2307/3071919
Möllenbeck V, Hermann G, Fartmann T (2009) Does prescribed burning mean a threat to the rare satyrine butterfly Hipparchia fagi? Larval-habitat preferences give the answer. J Insect Conserv 13(1):77–87. doi:10.1007/s10841-007-9128-z
Müller-Wille W (1981) Westfalen. Landschaftliche Ordnung und Bindung eines Landes (2. Aufl.). Aschendorfsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Münster
Munguira ML, García-Barros E, Martín Cano J (2009) Butterfly herbivory and larval ecology. In: Settele J, Shreeve T, Konvicka M, Van Dyck H (eds) Ecology of butterflies in Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 43–54
Örvössy N, Kõrösi Á, Batáry P, Vozár Á, Peregovits L (2013) Potential metapopulation structure and the effects of habitat quality on population size of the endangered False Ringlet butterfly. J Insect Conserv 17(3):537–547. doi:10.1007/s10841-012-9538-4
Pähler R, Dudler H (2010) Die Schmetterlingsfauna von Ostwestfalen-Lippe und angrenzender Gebiete in Nordhessen und Südniedersachsen. Eigenverlag, Verl
Parmesan C, Yohe G (2003) A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature 421(6918):37–42. doi:10.1038/nature01286
R Development Core Team (2011) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
Reinhardt R, Bolz R (2011). Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Tagfalter (Rhopalocera) (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea et Hesperioidea) Deutschlands – Bearbeitungsstand: 4. Fassung. Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt, vol 3 Bonn - Bad Godesberg
Reinhardt R, Sbieschne H, Settele J, Fischer U, Fiedler G (2007) Tagfalter von Sachsen. Beiträge zur Insektenfauna Sachsens, Band 6. Bernhard Klausnitzer, Dresden
Robin X, Turck N, Hainard A, Tiberti N, Lisacek F, Sanchez J-C, Mueller M (2011) pROC: an open-source package for R and S plus to analyze and compare ROC curves. BMC Bioinform 12(1):77. doi:10.1186/1471-2105-12-77
Robinson RA, Sutherland WJ (2002) Post-war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain. J Appl Ecol 39(1):157–176. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2664.2002.00695.x
Ruel JJ, Ayres MP (1999) Jensen’s inequality predicts effects of environmental variation. Trends Ecol Evol 14(9):361–366. doi:10.1016/s0169-5347(99)01664-x
Schmitt T (1993) Biotopansprüche von Erebia medusa brigobanna FRÜHSTORFER, 1917 (Rundaugen-Mohrenfalter) im Nordsaarland (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae). Atalanta 24:33–56
Schmitt T, Varga Z, Seitz A (2000) Forests as dispersal barriers for Erebia medusa (Nymphalidae, Lepidoptera). Basic Appl Ecol 1(1):53–59. doi:10.1078/1439-1791-00008
Schraml E, Fartmann T (2013) Frühlings-Mohrenfalter Erebia medusa ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775). In: Bräu M, Bolz R, Kolbeck H, Nummer A, Voith J, Wolf W (eds) Tagfalter in Bayern. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, pp 504–506
Schröder B (2006) Software ROC/AUC-calculation. Evaluating the predictive performance of species distribution models (computer program). http://lec.wzw.tum.de/index.php?id=67&L=1. Accessed 01.09.2013
Schröder B, Strauss B, Biedermann R, Binzenhoefer B, Settele J (2009) Predictive species distribution modelling in butterflies. In: Settele J, Shreeve T, Konvicka M, Van Dyck H (eds) Ecology of butterflies in Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 62–77
Schtickzelle N, Baguette M (2009) (Meta)population viability analysis: a crystal ball for the conservation of endangered butterflies? In: Settele J, Shreeve T, Konvicka M, Van Dyck H (eds) Ecology of butterflies in Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 339–352
Schulte T, Eller O, Niehuis M, Rennwald E (2007) Die Tagfalter der Pfalz, vol Beiheft 37. Fauna und Flor in Rheinland-Pfalz. GNOR-Eigenverlag, Landau
Segurado P, Araujo MB (2004) An evaluation of methods for modelling species distributions. J Biogeogr 31(10):1555–1568. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.01076.x
Settele J, Kudrna O, Harpke A, Kuehn I, Van Swaay CAM, Verovnik R, Warren M, Wiemers M, Hanspach J, Hickler T, Kuehn E, Van Halder I, Veling K, Vliegenthart A, Wynhoff I, Schweiger O (2008) Climatic risk atlas of European butterflies, vol 1 (Special Issue). BioRisk. Pensoft Publishers, Sofia
Slamova I, Klecka J, Konvicka M (2013) Woodland and grassland mosaic from a butterfly perspective: habitat use by Erebia aethiops (Lepidoptera: Satyridae). Insect Conserv Divers 6(3):243–254. doi:10.1111/j.1752-4598.2012.00212.x
Smit HJ, Metzger MJ, Ewert F (2008) Spatial distribution of grassland productivity and land use in Europe. Agric Syst 98(3):208–219. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2008.07.004
Sonderegger P (2005) Die Erebien der Schweiz (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae, Genus Erebia). Verlag Peter Sonderegger, Brügg bei Biel
Stoate C, Boatman ND, Borralho RJ, Carvalho CR, de Snoo GR, Eden P (2001) Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. J Environ Manag 63(4):337–365. doi:10.1006/jema.2001.0473
Stuhldreher G, Hermann G, Fartmann T (2014) Cold-adapted species in a warming world—an explorative study on the impact of high winter temperatures on a continental butterfly. Entomol Exp Appl 151(3):270–279. doi:10.1111/eea.12193
Thomas CD (2000) Dispersal and extinction in fragmented landscapes. Proc R Soc B-Biol Sci 267(1439):139–145. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.0978
Thomas JA, Thomas CD, Simcox DJ, Clarke RT (1986) Ecology and declining status of the silver-spotted skipper butterfly (Hesperia comma) in Britain. J Appl Ecol 23(2):365–380. doi:10.2307/2404023
Thomas JA, Simcox DJ, Wardlaw JC, Elmes GW, Hochberg ME, Clarke RT (1998) Effects of latitude, altitude and climate on the habitat and conservation of the endangered butterfly Maculinea arion and its Myrmica ant hosts. J Insect Conserv 2(1):39–46. doi:10.1023/a:1009640706218
Tonne F (1954) Besser Bauen mit Besonnungs- und Tageslicht-Planung. Karl Hoffmann, Schorndorf
Turlure C, Choutt J, Van Dyck H, Baguette M, Schtickzelle N (2010) Functional habitat area as a reliable proxy for population size: case study using two butterfly species of conservation concern. J Insect Conserv 14(4):379–388. doi:10.1007/s10841-010-9269-3
Van Dyck H (2012) Changing organisms in rapidly changing anthropogenic landscapes: the significance of the ‘Umwelt’-concept and functional habitat for animal conservation. Evol Appl 5(2):144–153. doi:10.1111/j.1752-4571.2011.00230.x
Van Swaay CAM, Warren M (1999). Red data book of European butterflies (Rhopalocera). Nature and Environment, vol 99. Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, pp 1–260
Van Swaay CAM, Warren M (eds) (2003) Prime butterfly areas in Europe: priority sites for conservation. National Reference Centre for Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, Wageningen
Van Swaay CAM, Maes D, Warren MS (2009) Conservation status of European butterflies. In: Settele J, Shreeve T, Konvicka M, Van Dyck H (eds) Ecology of butterflies in Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 322–338
Vanreusel W, Van Dyck H (2007) When functional habitat does not match vegetation types: a resource-based approach to map butterfly habitat. Biol Conserv 135(2):202–211. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.10.035
Vitousek PM (1994) Beyond global warming—ecology and global change. Ecology 75(7):1861–1876. doi:10.2307/1941591
Walther GR, Post E, Convey P, Menzel A, Parmesan C, Beebee TJC, Fromentin JM, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Bairlein F (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416(6879):389–395. doi:10.1038/416389a
Waring P (2001) Grazing and cutting as conservation management tools: the need for a cautious approach, with some examples of rare moths which have been adversely affected. Entomol Rec J Var 113(5):193–200
Weking S, Hermann G, Fartmann T (2013) Effects of mire type, land use and climate on a strongly declining wetland butterfly. J Insect Conserv 17(6):1081–1091. doi:10.1007/s10841-013-9585-5
Williams CM, Marshall KE, MacMillan HA, Dzurisin JDK, Hellmann JJ, Sinclair BJ (2012) Thermal variability increases the impact of autumnal warming and drives metabolic depression in an overwintering butterfly. PLoS ONE 7(3):e34470. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034470
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Gabriel Hermann for information on the habitats and population trends of E. medusa in South-west Germany. We are very grateful to Jan Thiele (Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster) for statistical advice. Benjamin Gräler (Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster) helped to write the R script for the model validation procedure. Two anonymous referees made valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This work was funded by a Ph.D. scholarship of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stuhldreher, G., Fartmann, T. When habitat management can be a bad thing: effects of habitat quality, isolation and climate on a declining grassland butterfly. J Insect Conserv 18, 965–979 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9704-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9704-y