Download or read book Butterfly Community Composition in Fragmented Habitats written by Jessica Diane Davis Skibbe and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fragmented Midwestern U.S.A landscape creates prairie remnants embedded in an agricultural matrix, potentially impermeable to dispersing individuals. Conservationists are recognizing the importance of protecting tallgrass prairie along railways because these remnants represent a significant amount of unplowed prairie. These small but relatively common remnants are important from the perspective of right-of-way management and aesthetic beauty, but may also help insure a sustainable future for native species by providing important floral and larval resources for pollinators. We sampled butterflies in 2003 and 2004 at prairie remnants to examine the differences in species composition between linear and block (e.g. prairie preserves) habitats. We used a multiscale approach to determine local and landscape factors on butterfly diversity and community composition. Contrary to our hypothesis, results indicate that linear habitats have a greater total number of species and total number of disturbance-tolerant species than block habitats. Linear and block habitats do not significantly differ in the abundance of habitat-sensitive butterfly species. Correspondence analysis, which examines community composition, clearly separates linear from block habitats. Results from partial least squares regression suggest there are indeed effects of the landscape on butterflies at all scales investigated (local; 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 km). Litter was the local variable most highly correlated with butterfly abundance while roads in the landscape were highly correlated with abundance. Variance partitioning using partial canonical correspondence analysis indicated that landscape variables add additional explanatory power beyond local variables. From this we conclude that although linear habitats harbor a different assemblage of butterflies than block habitats, linear habitats provide important habitat for habitat-sensitive species in Iowa. Understanding landscape scale patterns and processes may enhance our knowledge of butterfly diversity on prairie fragments in the Midwest, USA.