The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States
Abstract Background As grasslands decline, grassland‐dependent species such as grassland butterflies have experienced widespread population losses. To manage remaining grasslands, prescribed fire, grazing, and haying are common management practices across the Southern Great Plains of the United Stat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Grassland Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/glr2.12099 |
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| _version_ | 1841525448229519360 |
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| author | Emily A. Geest Raymond A. Moranz Kristen A. Baum |
| author_facet | Emily A. Geest Raymond A. Moranz Kristen A. Baum |
| author_sort | Emily A. Geest |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background As grasslands decline, grassland‐dependent species such as grassland butterflies have experienced widespread population losses. To manage remaining grasslands, prescribed fire, grazing, and haying are common management practices across the Southern Great Plains of the United States. However, the impacts of management and land use intensity (LUI) on butterfly community composition and butterfly community traits are not well understood. Additionally, local habitat characteristics such as vegetation height and cover, as well as broader landscape categorization, including how much agriculture or urbanization is occurring around the habitat, can alter butterfly communities. Methods We conducted standardized butterfly and flowering forb surveys at grassland sites across north‐central Oklahoma. Results LUI influenced overall butterfly community composition with sites managed only with fire having the most dissimilar butterfly community compared to three other management regimens. The amount of agriculture, urbanization, and wetlands surrounding study sites also influenced butterfly community composition. Flowering forb community measures differed by site with sites managed by fire alone having lower blooming forbs species richness, diversity, and abundance than sites with other management regimens. Conclusions Sites managed with only prescribed fire had the most disparate butterfly community in comparison to other management methods, suggesting that specialist butterfly species may be sensitive to increasing disturbance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4bd4d5192cfc4e9292a36ebe3c086872 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2097-051X 2770-1743 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Grassland Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-4bd4d5192cfc4e9292a36ebe3c0868722025-01-17T12:43:41ZengWileyGrassland Research2097-051X2770-17432024-12-013430631710.1002/glr2.12099The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United StatesEmily A. Geest0Raymond A. Moranz1Kristen A. Baum2Department of Integrative Biology Oklahoma State University Stillwater Oklahoma USADepartment of Integrative Biology Oklahoma State University Stillwater Oklahoma USADepartment of Integrative Biology Oklahoma State University Stillwater Oklahoma USAAbstract Background As grasslands decline, grassland‐dependent species such as grassland butterflies have experienced widespread population losses. To manage remaining grasslands, prescribed fire, grazing, and haying are common management practices across the Southern Great Plains of the United States. However, the impacts of management and land use intensity (LUI) on butterfly community composition and butterfly community traits are not well understood. Additionally, local habitat characteristics such as vegetation height and cover, as well as broader landscape categorization, including how much agriculture or urbanization is occurring around the habitat, can alter butterfly communities. Methods We conducted standardized butterfly and flowering forb surveys at grassland sites across north‐central Oklahoma. Results LUI influenced overall butterfly community composition with sites managed only with fire having the most dissimilar butterfly community compared to three other management regimens. The amount of agriculture, urbanization, and wetlands surrounding study sites also influenced butterfly community composition. Flowering forb community measures differed by site with sites managed by fire alone having lower blooming forbs species richness, diversity, and abundance than sites with other management regimens. Conclusions Sites managed with only prescribed fire had the most disparate butterfly community in comparison to other management methods, suggesting that specialist butterfly species may be sensitive to increasing disturbance.https://doi.org/10.1002/glr2.12099grasslandsgrazinglandscapeland use intensityprescribed fireSouthern Great Plains |
| spellingShingle | Emily A. Geest Raymond A. Moranz Kristen A. Baum The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States Grassland Research grasslands grazing landscape land use intensity prescribed fire Southern Great Plains |
| title | The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States |
| title_full | The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States |
| title_fullStr | The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States |
| title_short | The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States |
| title_sort | effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the southern great plains of the united states |
| topic | grasslands grazing landscape land use intensity prescribed fire Southern Great Plains |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/glr2.12099 |
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