How Does Temperature Affect the Emergence and Peak Abundance of Adult Taylor Checkerspot Butterflies (Euphydryas Editha Taylori)?
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How Does Temperature Affect the Emergence and Peak Abundance of Adult Taylor Checkerspot Butterflies (Euphydryas Editha Taylori)?
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Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (TCB) is an endangered species that Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been monitoring since 2007. Through their partnership with the Oregon Zoo and the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) at the Evergreen State College, WDFW has helped create new populations with captive rearing and release programs. However, monitoring these new TCB populations is often restricted due to time and labor restraints. Although monitoring has been nearly continuous from 2010 through 2023 in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Range 50 (JBLM R50) and Scatter Creek Wildlife Area (SCWA) locations, there are years where there are low observation counts and/or the first flight or peak abundance is missed. The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not the Julian day or temperature in the form of Growing Degree Days (GDD) can predict TCB first flight or peak abundance. Additionally, since there was low count data, Generalized Additive Models (GAM) were used to estimate peak abundance. However, this study could not find a direct correlation between Julian day or GDD with first flight or peak abundance. This means temperature does not appear to be the main driving factor determining when adult TCB take flight and more research needs to be done to help monitoring and conservation efforts.
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September 2024
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Alicia Netter
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Netter_Alicia_MES Thesis_September 2024
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