The Karner blue habitat in the Albany Pine Bush, which once covered as much as 40,00 continuous acres, has been reduced to 2, acres. These 2, acres are dissected by barriers to butterfly dispersal such as roads and buildings and are subject to disturbance by off-road vehicles and horseback riding. The pine barrens in New Hampshire have largely been destroyed as a result of industrial, commercial, and residential development; road and airport construction; and gravel and sand mining.
In Wisconsin, remaining habitat is threatened by encroachment of nearby forests, conversion of barrens to pine plantation, and commercial and urban development. Development and agricultural land conversions have been a major contributor to the habitat loss in Michigan.
Management for Karner blue butterflies in most cases means management for the oak savanna and pine barrens ecosystem. In some cases it is hoped that recovery can be realized on lands managed for other purposes such as non-intensive forestry operations or military operations such as those conducted at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.
Savanna and barrens ecosystems are as imperiled as the butterfly. Restoration and protection of savannas will lead to the recovery of Karner blues. So synonymous are Karner blue and savanna management that Necedah National Wildlife Refuge has a savanna restoration and management plan instead of a Karner blue management plan.
The result of their plan has been the establishment of a large viable population of Karners and progress towards recovery of the species. As of , there are 40 partners in the HCP, with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources being one of the major partners and lead in this effort.
Other partners include major forestry stakeholders, conservation organizations, county forest departments, utility companies, private landowners, The Nature Conservancy, and the Wisconsin Departments of Agriculture and Transportation. This plan was developed to ensure that management and restoration of Karner blue habitat continues even though some habitat may be destroyed or degraded by partner activities.
To ensure conservation of the Karner blue, all partners plan to incorporate conservation measures for the butterfly into their land management activities e. The partners are also developing an outreach and education strategy to further conservation of the butterfly and its habitat on other private lands in Wisconsin. In other States, protection and restoration of savannas is occurring on many public lands, both Federal and State.
And interested private landowners are providing savanna habitat for Karner blues. Habitat restoration efforts are ongoing on state property in Minnesota and on TNC, state, and private property in New York. The U. Fish and Wildlife Service and a host of other public and non-governmental conservation organizations, most notably the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, have undertaken significant protection and enhancement efforts in New Hampshire. The Karner blue has been designated the official butterfly of the City of Concord as well as the state of New Hampshire.
Fish and Wildlife Service prepared a Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan that outlines a strategy for recovering the butterfly range-wide. It identifies tasks to restore habitat and stabilize and recover Karner blue populations. The Recovery Plan was published in and is available online 1. Since the landing of the Pilgrims in , more than species, subspecies, and varieties of our Nation's plants and animals are known to have become extinct.
In contrast, during the Pleistocene Ice Age, all of North America lost only about three species every years. This recent, catastrophic loss of biological diversity is continuing at an unprecedented rate.
Each and every species has a valuable ecological role in the balance of nature and each loss destabilizes that fragile balance. Once a species is extinct, it is lost forever. Experience has proven that many plants and animals have properties which will prove beneficial to humans as sources of food and medicine.
With the loss of each species, we lose a potential resource for improving the quality of life for all humanity. Karner blue butterflies are endangered primarily because the savanna and barrens ecosystems that they depend on for survival are also endangered. Recovering the Karner means recovering these unique and interesting ecosystems.
Kalifa Sporlein Explainer. Why are the Karner blue butterfly endangered? Eulogia Acedo Explainer. Are blue morpho butterflies poisonous? As caterpillars, the leaves they feed on contained a poisonous compound which then makes them toxic to predators as adults.
Genadio Gonzalo Pundit. How big is the Karner Blue butterfly? The Karner blue is a small butterfly with a wing span of approximately one inch. In the male, the upper surface of all four wings is a deep violet- blue fringed with white. Why are butterflies important to the environment? An abundance of butterflies is often an indication that an ecosystem is thriving. Adult butterflies and caterpillars are an important source of food for other animals such as bats and birds.
Along with nectar, butterflies eat a variety of plants. Some species also provide a natural form of pest control. Ask A Question. Co-authors: 5. Like all butterflies, the Karner blue has four stages in its life cycle - the egg, the larva caterpillar , the pupa chrysalis , and the adult butterfly. There are two generations per year. The first generation adults appear in late May to mid-June.
Females lay eggs on the underside of a leaf or stem of the food plant, blue lupine Lupinus perrennis. These eggs hatch in seven to eight days. Forty to fifty percent of the eggs survive to the adult stage. The resulting second brood adults, emerging in mid-July to early August, lay their eggs singly in dried lupine seed pods or near the ground on the stems. Eggs of the second brood overwinter, to hatch the next May. Karner blue adults are nectar-feeders, aiding in the pollination of a variety of wildflowers.
The larvae, however, are highly specialized, feeding exclusively on the wild blue lupine leaves. Without blue lupine, the Karner blue would not survive.
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