PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #51: Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species.
Friday, August 10, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall
117
Habitat enhancement for the endangered Karner blue butterfly in the Eau Claire River Basin, Wisconsin.
SPORRONG, JILL1, ANKLAM, JANE2, KLEINTJES, PAULA1, 1 2
ABSTRACT- We are measuring the success of seeding wild lupine and other native prairie plants as part of habitat restoration efforts for the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) in the Eau Claire River basin, WI. In fall 1997, 0.8ha of disturbed dry sand prairie were hand-seeded with 40% native grasses (2spp.), 50% nectar species (25spp.) and 10% wild lupine (Lupinus perennis)(3lbs/ha) as a result of a habitat mitigation project. By August 2000, the site contained a mean ±SE of 0.026 lupine/m2 , 39.9±0.69grasses/m2 (32%), 67.0±1.45 forbs/m2 (54%) and 14.5±0.60 Carex spp./m2 (14.5%) and was occupied by Karners. In 2000, the Natural Resources Conservation Service of Eau Claire Co. began including lupine seed in all Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) native prairie plant mixes. As a result, we evaluated whether CRP sites were appropriate (e.g., suitable soil, light, vegetation, butterfly range) for lupine establishment and if so, how did they compare with a successfully seeded dry sand prairie.Of 32 sites, we found that half existed within the butterflys documented range. Three contained stands of lupine and one had Karners. In spring 2000, sites were seeded with a mixture of native grasses (8spp.) and forbs (14spp) and lupine was seeded in fall (25-40 seeds/m2 ). In spring 2001, successful germination of lupine/m2 will be determined by transect counts (n=3) in each of 15 sites and compared with first year establishment of lupine in the seeded dry sand prairie. Sites will be evaluated for butterfly colonization in subsequent years.
KEY WORDS: butterflies, prairie restoration, Lupinus perennis, Lycaeides melissa samuelis