PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #67: Conservation Ecology.
Friday, August 9. Presentation from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Laguna Mountain Skipper habitat assessment.

BAILEY, DAVID^*,1, WILLIAMS, KATHY¹, ¹ San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

ABSTRACT- The Laguna Mountains Skipper (Pyrgus ruralis lagunae) [LMS] is one of the rarest butterflies in North America, occurring in the Laguna and Palomar Mountains of southern California. The LMS was listed as a federally endangered species in 1997, due to presumed habitat loss and disturbance. The goal of this initial study of habitat requirements for LMS was to compare vegetation and disturbance characteristics at sites where LMS has been found to those at sites where larval hostplants Horkelia clevlandii grow but no LMS have been reported. Vegetation and other habitat characteristics, including percent cover, flowering status, phenology, and spatial distributions of all plants and shading in areas of Horkelia populations, were quantified in over 1000 quadrats at 13 sites. Analyses of these data identified new sites for possible introduction of LMS or continued management and preservation and also suggested that both frequency and form of disturbance may enhance growth of other vegetation that reduces host plant availability to LMS. Management recommendations from this study include small-scale manipulations such as controlled burning, vegetation clearing, and selective plant removal.

KEY WORDS: endangered, conservation, butterfly, California