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Deploying Community Scientists to Conduct Nondestructive Genetic Sampling of Rare Butterfly Populations
Published on: October 28, 2022
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Climate change, phenology, and butterfly host plant utilization
Jose A Navarro-Cano1, Bengt Karlsson, Diana Posledovich
1Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden, jose.a.navarro@uv.es.
Ambio
|January 11, 2015
Summary
Climate warming impacts species interactions. The Orange tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) shows advanced flight dates and adaptable host plant use, suggesting resilience to climate change.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Climate Change Biology
- Entomology
Background:
- Understanding climate warming's influence on species interactions is crucial for biodiversity research.
- Phenological shifts in insects are key indicators of climate change impacts.
- The Orange tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) serves as a model for studying climate effects on butterfly-host plant relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review phenological changes in Swedish butterflies over recent decades.
- To investigate potential climate effects on butterfly-host plant interactions using Anthocharis cardamines.
- To assess the phenological specialization and host utilization strategies of A. cardamines in response to climate variation.
Main Methods:
- Review of phenological data for Swedish butterflies.
- Analysis of flight dates and their correlation with latitude.
- Examination of host plant selection based on flowering phenology in A. cardamines populations.
Main Results:
- Anthocharis cardamines has significantly advanced its emergence dates.
- A positive correlation exists between mean flight date and latitude.
- Butterfly populations exhibit latitudinal variation in host use, selecting plants by flowering phenology.
Conclusions:
- A. cardamines is a phenological specialist but a generalist in host species.
- Thermal plasticity in spring development affects host plant matching for A. cardamines.
- The host utilization strategy confers resilience to A. cardamines against significant climate variation.
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