Habitat Selection on the Edge:Forests, Meadows, and Butterflies

Haley CoffmanDr. Elizabeth Crone

Post-Doc. Leone BrownTufts REU 2014

Photo by: Emma Sass

Landscapes are

ever-changing

Why BCB? Conservation Questions

● Native vs. combination (native and non-native)

● Connectivity to different meadow patches

● Large population

● Native vs. Non-native

● Taylor’s Checkerspot (TCB)

o Washington and Oregon

● Population decline in Maryland?

(Crone, Morris et al. 2010)

Harvard Conservation Grounds, MA

Background

● Locationo Eastern North America

● Host plantso Turtlehead (native)o Plantago

Turtlehead (Chelone)

(NatureServe 2012)(Bowers 1984; Bowers 1988)

Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

(Euphydryas phaeton)

Why Study Edges?

Forest vs. Meadow

➔ Connectivity

➔ Distinct edges

Methods: Edge Circles

Forest

(Warchola 2010)

7

6

5

2

3

1

4

Implication

s

➔Movement!

➔ New populations?

➔ Conservation in Maryland?

➔ Taylor’s Checkerspot conservation

➔ Different edges

www.sustainabilityinprisons.org/

Future Directions

Acknowledgements

DoD SERP

Project Grant

NSF

REU stipends

Tufts University

Institution

Dr. Elizabeth Crone

Primary Researcher

Dr. Leone Brown

Post-Doc

Emma Sass

Field Tech

Capture-Recapture Study

Photo by: Emma Sass

Movement Paths

Turtlehead Plantago