Fen meadows on the move for the conservation of Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius butterflies

I. Wynhoff; A. M. Kolvoort; C. F. Bassignana; M. P. Berg; F. Van Langevelde

doi:10.1007/s10841-016-9941-3

Fen meadows on the move for the conservation of Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius butterflies

I. Wynhoff^*, A. M. Kolvoort, C. F. Bassignana, M. P. Berg, F. Van Langevelde

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

In the Netherlands, a single population of the obligate myrmecophilic butterfly Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius has survived on only 3 ha of habitat for more than 25 years, whereas at least 40 ha of habitat are thought to be required for a sustainable metapopulation. Therefore, 170 ha of farmland is being restored to wet meadows within a LIFE + project by large-scale soil excavation and hay inoculation. For successful restoration, the habitat requirements of the butterfly, with Sanguisorba officinalis as host plant and its particular life cycle as parasite of the ant species Myrmica scabrinodis, have to be taken into account. We tested whether colonization of nests of this ant species in the restoration areas is facilitated by translocation of sods collected from fen meadows. We divided 54 sods, each sized 1 m², randomly over six patches and measured vegetation development and ant presence in the sods and surrounding control plots for 2 years. In the first summer, significantly more Myrmica ants were found in the transplanted sods in comparison to the surrounding area. Herb cover had a significant positive effect on Myrmica ant presence while it did not affect the presence of the pioneer ant species Lasius niger. In the second year, Myrmica ants were found in the surrounding control plots as well. This study contributes to the knowledge-base required for the design of restoration projects aimed at expanding the habitat of the critically endangered butterfly Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	379-392
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Insect Conservation
Volume	21
Issue number	3
Early online date	7 Dec 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-016-9941-3
Publication status	Published - Jun 2017

Funding

This study was performed within the LIFE + Project “Blues in the Marshes” (LIFE 11 NAT/NL/000770/Action C1 and D1). National State Forestry and Natuurmonumenten gave us permission to access their nature reserves and carried out the transplantation experiment. Kars Veling helped in the field and documented the actions. Sicco Ens assisted collecting vegetation data. Peter Boer helped identifying the ants. IW’s work was partly funded by the Province of Northern Brabant. MPB’s work was partly funded by the Uyttenboogaart-Eliasen Society.

Funders	Funder number
Uyttenboogaart-Eliasen Society

Keywords

Fen meadow
Habitat restoration
LIFE project
Myrmecophily
Myrmica
Translocation experiment

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s10841-016-9941-3

Fen meadows on the move for the conservation of Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius butterfliesFinal published version, 1.71 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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abstract = "In the Netherlands, a single population of the obligate myrmecophilic butterfly Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius has survived on only 3 ha of habitat for more than 25 years, whereas at least 40 ha of habitat are thought to be required for a sustainable metapopulation. Therefore, 170 ha of farmland is being restored to wet meadows within a LIFE + project by large-scale soil excavation and hay inoculation. For successful restoration, the habitat requirements of the butterfly, with Sanguisorba officinalis as host plant and its particular life cycle as parasite of the ant species Myrmica scabrinodis, have to be taken into account. We tested whether colonization of nests of this ant species in the restoration areas is facilitated by translocation of sods collected from fen meadows. We divided 54 sods, each sized 1 m2, randomly over six patches and measured vegetation development and ant presence in the sods and surrounding control plots for 2 years. In the first summer, significantly more Myrmica ants were found in the transplanted sods in comparison to the surrounding area. Herb cover had a significant positive effect on Myrmica ant presence while it did not affect the presence of the pioneer ant species Lasius niger. In the second year, Myrmica ants were found in the surrounding control plots as well. This study contributes to the knowledge-base required for the design of restoration projects aimed at expanding the habitat of the critically endangered butterfly Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius.",

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Fen meadows on the move for the conservation of Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius butterflies

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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