Why did I pick the Kirtland’s Warbler (Dendroica Kirtlandii) for my September Wisconsin species? Actually, my daughter did – I let her choose because her birthday is in September. She says it was love at first sight – she thinks Kirtland’s is cute because of its diminutive size and bright, contrasting colors. It was also her idea that I model my drawing on this photo of the warbler http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/images/bird_id/kirtland%27s-warbler-lg.gif , with a bubble coming out of its beak, saying LOST. Brilliant!
What interests me about this warbler?
1. Although there are no records of Kirtland’s having nested in Wisconsin before http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/47268492.html, this species is federally endangered and there is suitable habitat in Wisconsin. Its reproductive success in Wisconsin in Adams and Marinette County and presence in other Wisconsin counties is the result of an intense process of aiding a species in decline - an inspiring story of hope and perseverance. In 2008 the Kirtland’s Warbler, for the first time since the 1940s, has nested outside of Michigan, producing at least 10 nestlings in Wisconsin. See here for past and present accounts of Kirlands in Wisconsin http://www.fws.gov/midwest/GreenBay/ This, thanks to a many faceted effort -- the difficult and dedicated research, monitoring and management of this species by a variety of people in a variety of places.
Government, scientists, industry, a public foundation and lay people have come together to help save this species. The Plum Creek Timber Company allowed government agencies onto their land, the U.S. Department of Agriculture traps the cowbirds (300 were trapped where the warblers successfully nested), and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitor nests, trap, band and run field trips http://www.fws.gov/news/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=5BB8F06F-03E9-2DCC-38C152B14D3029F1 and http://www.fws.gov/midwest/GreenBay/kiwa/2009Summary.html. The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin http://www.wisconservation.org/ (see and hear here – you’ll follow a volunteer’s discovery of a new Kirtland’s) also helped, particularly with volunteer coordination and organization of statewide surveys. Many volunteer birders helped survey warblers. In fact, one documented the first nesting Kirtland’s in Wisconsin.
And, of course it would be impossible for Kirlands to recover in Wisconsin if they weren’t doing well in Michigan’s northern Lower and Upper peninsula,s from where they are spreading and the Bahamas, their primary wintering place. The Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team http://warbler.kirtland.edu/ gives a sense of the geographical vastness and complexity of the effort. It is made up of people from the Michigan DNR, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bahamas Department of Agriculture, and The International Institute of Tropical Forestry, just to name some of the partners.
2. The story of the Kirtland’s Warbler’s decline is a convergence of two circumstances - its reliance on a now shrinking habitat to breed, a young jack pine forest between 4 and 20 years old, and the spreading range of its foe, the cowbird http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/2009/04/warbler.htm .
Suitable habitat is crucial. Warblers make their nests on the ground, hidden by the low-hanging, closely packed branches which only young jack pines provide. And jack pines can only regenerate with fire, when the cones release their seeds that then sprout on the now fertile ground. As the trees age, their lower branches self-prune, no longer protecting the Kirtland's warblers nest.
Along with this range contraction came the proliferation of the brown-headed cowbird in its remaining habitat. It traditionally followed buffalo herds on the Great Plains, feeding on insects disturbed by buffalos' hooves. Being peripatetic, the cowbird laid eggs in other birds’ nests, leaving these unwitting adoptive parents to care for their young. When logging opened up land in the Midwest, cowbirds migrated too, and began laying eggs in warbler’s nests. Cowbirds hatch earlier and are larger and more aggressive than warblers, so the warbler nestlings don’t stand much of a chance.
3. Another interesting thing about the Kirtland’s Warbler is that once it was discovered, in the United States in 1850, it took awhile before anyone found out where it lived and bred http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12202-32591--,00.html . Its breeding range wasn’t discovered until over 50 years later, in 1903, when a nest was found in jack pine habitat. And nearly 30 years later, in 1879, Kirtland’s was discovered to over winter in the Bahamas, and later the Turks, Caicos and Hispaniola Islands. Just think how much there is yet to discover in our own Wisconsin backyards, about species we still know little about!
4. What are people doing to help Kirtland’s now? Cowbirds continue to be trapped and Kirtland’s banded and monitored. The vegetation where they breed will be analyzed to determine ideal breeding habitat. And 134,000 acres of jack pine will continue to be managed on a 50-year rotation, yielding at least 38,000 acres of young jack pine in which Kirtland's can nest. Wildlife managers will revisit known habitat and search out new, and manage accordingly. Census work in jack pine stands in Burnett, Douglas, Washburn, Bayfield, Vilas, Oneida, Marinette, Jackson and Adams counties will search out singing male Kirtland's warblers and potential new breeding sites, so conservation efforts can expand. http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/2009/04/warbler.htm http://www.fws.gov/news/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=5BB8F06F-03E9-2DCC-38C152B14D3029F1
5. And, finally, here’s what you can do to help the Kirtland’s Warbler. Pick up some general bird identification skills at Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s web site http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1053 Learn more about Kirtland’s and become a volunteer yourself! Donate to the organizations cited above! Tell your friends and family about Kirtland’s fascinating life history and road to recovery, and how people like you made it happen! Help change the world, one species at a time!!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
August's Featured Wisconsin Endangered Species: Prairie White-Fringed Orchid
I chose the prairie white-fringed orchid, Platanthera leucophaea, for my August Wisconsin endangered species because it ends flowering and fruits in August. What interests me most about orchids are their great popularity with us humans and their unique ecological relationships with other species.
One of the reasons orchids are so popular is that they’re the dogs of the plant world – they are the second biggest family of flowering plants, with 725 genera and 10,000 to 15,000 different species. Because they are easily hybridized, they can look strikingly different from one another (some look as if they come from another world!), and some are easy to grow and care for.
1. The prairie white-fringed orchid is one of the largest and showiest native North American orchids. Experience it for yourself at these websites: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLLE2, for a lovely feathery photo and http://www.orchidconservationcoalition.org/pr/bluestempleucophaea.html for a stunning close up. My drawing is based on this photo http://www.ojibway.ca/orchids.htm Read a more detailed description of the prairie white-fringed orchid here http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=PLALEU To get a handle on its taxonomy and North American distribution, go here
http://plants.usda.gov/java/stateSearch?searchTxt=prairie+white+fringed+orchid&searchType=Comname&stateSelect=US55&searchOrder=2&imageField.x=82&imageField.y=10 and for its distribution in Wisconsin, http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=info&Grp=20&SpecCode=PMORC1Y0F0.
2. These orchids rely on the nocturnal hawkmoth (Sphingidae http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/WIsphinx.htm - these are impressive in their own right) for pollination in order to reproduce, and their flowers are fragrant at night to accommodate them. The orchids rely on fungus living in the soil to become established in the soil and grow. Once the orchids have leaves, they aid the fungus as well! Adult orchids don’t have well-developed root systems and require these mycorrhizae for water and nutrition, especially when they’re under stress.
3. Why is this species endangered? It has declined in the US by more than 70%, mainly due to habitat loss for cropland and pasture. The remaining orchids are primarily threatened by continued habitat loss, specifically alteration of hydrology, fire protection, and development, as well as non-native species, illegal collection, herbicide drift and. possibly pesticides which may harm the hawkmoth
4. Which management practices can help these species survive? Restoration of mesic prairie through proper water (no ditching or draining and restoring water table levels) and fire management is essential. To this end, invasive and woody species must be removed for they dry out the habitat and prescribed burning is needed for seedling establishment and favorable fungus growth.
5. Read about how the WI DNR in partnership with private citizens and our own Madison Audubon Society have come together to save this orchid.
Two projects, both in Rock County under the Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) - the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid and the Tallgrass Farm Projects, adjacent to privately owned Fair Meadows State Natural Area, contain one of Wisconsin’s largest populations of the prairie white- fringed orchid, which has become even more numerous under this collaborative management http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/wlip/projects/rock.htm and http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/sna/index.asp?SNA=416 .
On the Orchid Project site, LIP funds invasive tree and brush removal, herbicide treatment of reed canary grass, and prescribed burning. A section 6 grant helps with permanent protection. The landowner contributes time and personal equipment. A follow-up management plan, specific monitoring and project evaluation criteria are included. Mesic prairie is being restored in former agricultural fields and apple orchards.
The Tallgrass site is managed through controlled burns, brush clearing, invasive weed control, stewardship, and increasing diversity by seeding and planting native plants.
The WI DNR and Madison Audubon Society have collaborated at two sites, the Faville Grove Sanctuary and Snapper Prairie. At Faville Grove, MAS acquired 265 acres and has been restoring the hydrology and plant communities of more than half of those acres. MAS has worked with NRCS to fill ditches and artificial drainage swales. LIP is funding tree and brush removal along the former fence lines, buying local genotype seed, and mowing and herbicide to control invasive species. MAS is providing a 37% match of volunteer on-site by hand seed collection and planting of more than 100 native species, weed control, and prescribed burns.
At Snapper Prairie, MAS acquired 265 acres and has been restoring the hydrology and plant communities. LIP is funding tree and brush removal along the property line and weeding, mowing, and herbicide to control invasive species. MAS is providing a 36% match through volunteer labor for on-site by hand seed collection and backseeding of more than 100 native species, and weed control. Find details here (the 4th & 5th projects) http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/wlip/projects/jefferson.htm and at MAS’s website http://madisonaudubon.org/audubon/html/sanctuaries.htm
To learn about and see how prairie white-fringed orchid seeds are germinated as a way to conserve them, read this interesting account by a WI DNR employee, who then plants them on his farm, where he is doing a prairie restoration http://www.orchidconservationcoalition.org/pr/bluestempleucophaea.html .
If you’re tempted to grow this orchid on your own property, look here http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/html/stories/2001/jun01/orchids.htm , and get an idea of an orchid’s very exacting habitat requirements for soil, fungi, light and moisture. If you’re lucky enough that your habitat meets these requirements, plant on!
A non-profit conservation group, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, funds projects through its WI Foundation Endowment http://www.wisconservation.org/index.php?page=Endowed_Funds. The Koshkonong Corners SNA Fund was created by John Van Altena and Connie Brouillette, partly to fund the management of land supporting the prairie white-fringed orchid.
6. What can you do to help? Educate friends and family! Oppose development and support protection and proper management of white fringed prairie habitat! Volunteer! Support the organizations that disseminate important information about this species and help protect this species, such as the Center for Plant Conservation, which is responsible for much of the info on my blog http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/ASP/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=3520 (donate here: http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/SupportCPC.html )as well as the very informative http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Platanthera+leuc ophaea (donate here: http://www.natureserve.org/supportUs/index.jsp ). Also support and learn more about the American Orchid Society http://www.aos.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About and its conservation efforts. Get involved with the WI Natural Resources Foundation http://www.wisconservation.org/
Support your WI DNR http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/support/how_you_can_help.htm and your Madison Audubon Society http://madisonaudubon.org/audubon/html/join.htm in their mission to save the prairie white-fringed orchid.
Help save the world!
One of the reasons orchids are so popular is that they’re the dogs of the plant world – they are the second biggest family of flowering plants, with 725 genera and 10,000 to 15,000 different species. Because they are easily hybridized, they can look strikingly different from one another (some look as if they come from another world!), and some are easy to grow and care for.
1. The prairie white-fringed orchid is one of the largest and showiest native North American orchids. Experience it for yourself at these websites: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLLE2, for a lovely feathery photo and http://www.orchidconservationcoalition.org/pr/bluestempleucophaea.html for a stunning close up. My drawing is based on this photo http://www.ojibway.ca/orchids.htm Read a more detailed description of the prairie white-fringed orchid here http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=PLALEU To get a handle on its taxonomy and North American distribution, go here
http://plants.usda.gov/java/stateSearch?searchTxt=prairie+white+fringed+orchid&searchType=Comname&stateSelect=US55&searchOrder=2&imageField.x=82&imageField.y=10 and for its distribution in Wisconsin, http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=info&Grp=20&SpecCode=PMORC1Y0F0.
2. These orchids rely on the nocturnal hawkmoth (Sphingidae http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/WIsphinx.htm - these are impressive in their own right) for pollination in order to reproduce, and their flowers are fragrant at night to accommodate them. The orchids rely on fungus living in the soil to become established in the soil and grow. Once the orchids have leaves, they aid the fungus as well! Adult orchids don’t have well-developed root systems and require these mycorrhizae for water and nutrition, especially when they’re under stress.
3. Why is this species endangered? It has declined in the US by more than 70%, mainly due to habitat loss for cropland and pasture. The remaining orchids are primarily threatened by continued habitat loss, specifically alteration of hydrology, fire protection, and development, as well as non-native species, illegal collection, herbicide drift and. possibly pesticides which may harm the hawkmoth
4. Which management practices can help these species survive? Restoration of mesic prairie through proper water (no ditching or draining and restoring water table levels) and fire management is essential. To this end, invasive and woody species must be removed for they dry out the habitat and prescribed burning is needed for seedling establishment and favorable fungus growth.
5. Read about how the WI DNR in partnership with private citizens and our own Madison Audubon Society have come together to save this orchid.
Two projects, both in Rock County under the Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) - the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid and the Tallgrass Farm Projects, adjacent to privately owned Fair Meadows State Natural Area, contain one of Wisconsin’s largest populations of the prairie white- fringed orchid, which has become even more numerous under this collaborative management http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/wlip/projects/rock.htm and http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/sna/index.asp?SNA=416 .
On the Orchid Project site, LIP funds invasive tree and brush removal, herbicide treatment of reed canary grass, and prescribed burning. A section 6 grant helps with permanent protection. The landowner contributes time and personal equipment. A follow-up management plan, specific monitoring and project evaluation criteria are included. Mesic prairie is being restored in former agricultural fields and apple orchards.
The Tallgrass site is managed through controlled burns, brush clearing, invasive weed control, stewardship, and increasing diversity by seeding and planting native plants.
The WI DNR and Madison Audubon Society have collaborated at two sites, the Faville Grove Sanctuary and Snapper Prairie. At Faville Grove, MAS acquired 265 acres and has been restoring the hydrology and plant communities of more than half of those acres. MAS has worked with NRCS to fill ditches and artificial drainage swales. LIP is funding tree and brush removal along the former fence lines, buying local genotype seed, and mowing and herbicide to control invasive species. MAS is providing a 37% match of volunteer on-site by hand seed collection and planting of more than 100 native species, weed control, and prescribed burns.
At Snapper Prairie, MAS acquired 265 acres and has been restoring the hydrology and plant communities. LIP is funding tree and brush removal along the property line and weeding, mowing, and herbicide to control invasive species. MAS is providing a 36% match through volunteer labor for on-site by hand seed collection and backseeding of more than 100 native species, and weed control. Find details here (the 4th & 5th projects) http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/wlip/projects/jefferson.htm and at MAS’s website http://madisonaudubon.org/audubon/html/sanctuaries.htm
To learn about and see how prairie white-fringed orchid seeds are germinated as a way to conserve them, read this interesting account by a WI DNR employee, who then plants them on his farm, where he is doing a prairie restoration http://www.orchidconservationcoalition.org/pr/bluestempleucophaea.html .
If you’re tempted to grow this orchid on your own property, look here http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/html/stories/2001/jun01/orchids.htm , and get an idea of an orchid’s very exacting habitat requirements for soil, fungi, light and moisture. If you’re lucky enough that your habitat meets these requirements, plant on!
A non-profit conservation group, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, funds projects through its WI Foundation Endowment http://www.wisconservation.org/index.php?page=Endowed_Funds. The Koshkonong Corners SNA Fund was created by John Van Altena and Connie Brouillette, partly to fund the management of land supporting the prairie white-fringed orchid.
6. What can you do to help? Educate friends and family! Oppose development and support protection and proper management of white fringed prairie habitat! Volunteer! Support the organizations that disseminate important information about this species and help protect this species, such as the Center for Plant Conservation, which is responsible for much of the info on my blog http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/ASP/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=3520 (donate here: http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/SupportCPC.html )as well as the very informative http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Platanthera+leuc ophaea (donate here: http://www.natureserve.org/supportUs/index.jsp ). Also support and learn more about the American Orchid Society http://www.aos.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About and its conservation efforts. Get involved with the WI Natural Resources Foundation http://www.wisconservation.org/
Support your WI DNR http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/support/how_you_can_help.htm and your Madison Audubon Society http://madisonaudubon.org/audubon/html/join.htm in their mission to save the prairie white-fringed orchid.
Help save the world!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
July's Featured Wisconsin Endangered Species: Poweshiek Skipperling
The Poweshiek Skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek) is a kind of butterfly called a skipper because of its quick darting flight, and is named after Chief Poweshiek, a Fox tribe Indian who signed the treaty ending the Black Hawk War. It flies from mid June to July and peaks the first two weeks of July, which is why I chose to feature it in July!
Unlike the other Wisconsin endangered species I’ve featured, this one’s habitat, tall grass prairie, has been destroyed since the 1850s. Over 99% of its habitat is now gone, because of conversion to agricultural land, grazing, haying, and more recently, invasive weeds and poor habitat management.
1. I’ll begin by saying how incredible beautiful tall grass prairies are – they are the oceans of the Midwest! Their beauty is poignantly enhanced by their rarity. Look at this website to see some lovely, vivid photos of the Poweshiek Skipperling http://wisconsinbutterflies.org/butterfly/species/131-poweshiek-skipperling (my poster is based on the first one of these), and see one person’s brief account of their search for this butterfly. Also see these lovely photos of the Poweshiek and their habitat
http://www.naba.org/pubs/ab164/ab164Poweshiek_Paradise_Lost.pdf
2. Since so much of the Poweshiek Skipperling’s habitat is already destroyed, the challenge is to manage its existing habitat wisely.
See Ann Swengel’s incredibly intelligent, careful observations and insightful ideas in her North American Butterfly Association journal in depth article http://www.naba.org/pubs/ab164/ab164Poweshiek_Paradise_Lost.pdf (an excerpt can be found on the Madison Sierra Club’s website www.wisconsin.sierraclub.org, their April-June 2009 newsletter) about the mystery of the Poweshiek Skipperling’s decline. Here, she challenges the accepted idea that fire management is the only way to manage tall grass prairies. For this species and other vulnerable species it is in fact harmful. The Poweshiek is most abundant when nothing is done, though when its prairie is becoming brushy and weedy, it’s best to use localized treatments like mowing, brush-cutting and spot herbicide treatments. She makes the argument that using different management techniques protects diversity. There is no one size fits all management strategy that will benefit all species, because of the complexity of this ecosystem. It’s best to look to the rarest, most vulnerable species, and manage to suit their needs.
From the WI DNR’s new Endangered Resources website http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=info&Grp=9&SpecCode=IILEP57010 , you can find out that Poweshiek’s population fluctuates greatly, so they are particularly vulnerable to any external forces that could further lower their numbers. The WI DNR recommends expanding their habitat, creating habitat corridors, and using fire management with care.
This website http://www.xerces.org/powesheik-skipperling/ suggests only burning habitat infrequently and part of the habitat at a time – to protect Poweshieks and keep their home prairie and Poweshiek friendly!
3. Where can you find the Poweshiek Skipperling In Wisconsin? They live in Kettle Moraine Low Prairie in Waukesha County http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/sna/sna88.htm and in the Puchyan Prairie in Green Lake County http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/LAND/er/sna/sna172.htm . Go to these websites to donate and find more info. These lands are wet mesic prairies (Poweshieks are also found in adjacent dry prairies with the plants they favor) with native grasses, sedges and many plants in the sunflower family.
4. Given a butterflies unique lifecycle, what plants to they need in these prairies to survive? The larvae feed on prairie dropseed and little bluestem, which is unique to their WI habitat. Adults feed on coneflowers and black-eyed susan.
Check out this lovely photo http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=photoview&Grp=9&SpecCode=IILEP57010&PhotoNum=13522 .
5. Go here to see all the different kinds of butterflies (100 plus!) that can be found in Wisconsin, along with their range, habitat, flight time and conservation status http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/wes/pubs/bflylist.html Go to this website http://www.uwm.edu/People/rn/nativewisconsinbutterflies.htm#Skippers for an understanding of what’s in WI and how they’re classified, along with some lovely photos. For example, our butterfly is a Skipper, so it’s in the family Hesperiidae, and because it’s a Grass Skipper, it’s in the subfamily Hesperiinae.
6. And these websites give you a wider, North American (or Midwestern, since tall grass prairies only exist here, though there is a small population in Manitoba) perspective of Poweshieks. http://www.xerces.org/powesheik-skipperling/ . This website has great info about the history of tallgrass prairies, the Poweshiek’s conservation status, description and taxonomy, life history, distribution, threats and conservation needs. Donate to this very worthy organization!
Nature Serve has similar information
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?sourceTemplate=tabular_report.wmt&loadTemplate=species_RptComprehensive.wmt&selectedReport=RptComprehensive.wmt&summaryView=tabular_report.wmt&elKey=116340&paging=home&save=true&startIndex=1&nextStartIndex=1&reset=false&offPageSelectedElKey=116340&offPageSelectedElType=species&offPageYesNo=true&post_processes=&radiobutton=radiobutton&selectedIndexes=116340 on threats, conservation needs, life history, and conservation status, but is a more scientifically expressed version of the xerxes entry.
See information about butterflies and moths (there are far more kinds of moths than butterflies, did you know) of North America here http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=2059 as well as some specifics about the Poweshiek. You’ll find photos, maps, classification, identification, life history, flight times, wing span, caterpillar and adult food, habitat, range, conservation status and management needs. You can donate to help them with their mission!
8. How can you help save the Poweshiek Skipperling and other butterflies? By good habitat management, on your land and on theirs! As Ann Swengel advises in her Paradise Lost article, when you’re in Poweshiek habitat, or any other endangered species habitat, observe, analyze, advocate – this is how she reached her heretical conclusion in management circles that fire can be harmful to Poweshiek’s and other rare species.
Manage them well on your own land, as is detailed in this website http://www.uwm.edu/People/rn/butterflyattraction.htm which describes how you can make butterfly habitat in your garden – you’ll need host plants for caterpillars, nectar plants for butterflies, water, shelter, a place to bask – and you must not use insecticides!
Be a conservationist everyday, in your own life, as tourist, landowner, voter and conversationalist! Help save the Poweshiek Skipperling and the natural world!
Unlike the other Wisconsin endangered species I’ve featured, this one’s habitat, tall grass prairie, has been destroyed since the 1850s. Over 99% of its habitat is now gone, because of conversion to agricultural land, grazing, haying, and more recently, invasive weeds and poor habitat management.
1. I’ll begin by saying how incredible beautiful tall grass prairies are – they are the oceans of the Midwest! Their beauty is poignantly enhanced by their rarity. Look at this website to see some lovely, vivid photos of the Poweshiek Skipperling http://wisconsinbutterflies.org/butterfly/species/131-poweshiek-skipperling (my poster is based on the first one of these), and see one person’s brief account of their search for this butterfly. Also see these lovely photos of the Poweshiek and their habitat
http://www.naba.org/pubs/ab164/ab164Poweshiek_Paradise_Lost.pdf
2. Since so much of the Poweshiek Skipperling’s habitat is already destroyed, the challenge is to manage its existing habitat wisely.
See Ann Swengel’s incredibly intelligent, careful observations and insightful ideas in her North American Butterfly Association journal in depth article http://www.naba.org/pubs/ab164/ab164Poweshiek_Paradise_Lost.pdf (an excerpt can be found on the Madison Sierra Club’s website www.wisconsin.sierraclub.org, their April-June 2009 newsletter) about the mystery of the Poweshiek Skipperling’s decline. Here, she challenges the accepted idea that fire management is the only way to manage tall grass prairies. For this species and other vulnerable species it is in fact harmful. The Poweshiek is most abundant when nothing is done, though when its prairie is becoming brushy and weedy, it’s best to use localized treatments like mowing, brush-cutting and spot herbicide treatments. She makes the argument that using different management techniques protects diversity. There is no one size fits all management strategy that will benefit all species, because of the complexity of this ecosystem. It’s best to look to the rarest, most vulnerable species, and manage to suit their needs.
From the WI DNR’s new Endangered Resources website http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=info&Grp=9&SpecCode=IILEP57010 , you can find out that Poweshiek’s population fluctuates greatly, so they are particularly vulnerable to any external forces that could further lower their numbers. The WI DNR recommends expanding their habitat, creating habitat corridors, and using fire management with care.
This website http://www.xerces.org/powesheik-skipperling/ suggests only burning habitat infrequently and part of the habitat at a time – to protect Poweshieks and keep their home prairie and Poweshiek friendly!
3. Where can you find the Poweshiek Skipperling In Wisconsin? They live in Kettle Moraine Low Prairie in Waukesha County http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/sna/sna88.htm and in the Puchyan Prairie in Green Lake County http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/LAND/er/sna/sna172.htm . Go to these websites to donate and find more info. These lands are wet mesic prairies (Poweshieks are also found in adjacent dry prairies with the plants they favor) with native grasses, sedges and many plants in the sunflower family.
4. Given a butterflies unique lifecycle, what plants to they need in these prairies to survive? The larvae feed on prairie dropseed and little bluestem, which is unique to their WI habitat. Adults feed on coneflowers and black-eyed susan.
Check out this lovely photo http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=photoview&Grp=9&SpecCode=IILEP57010&PhotoNum=13522 .
5. Go here to see all the different kinds of butterflies (100 plus!) that can be found in Wisconsin, along with their range, habitat, flight time and conservation status http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/wes/pubs/bflylist.html Go to this website http://www.uwm.edu/People/rn/nativewisconsinbutterflies.htm#Skippers for an understanding of what’s in WI and how they’re classified, along with some lovely photos. For example, our butterfly is a Skipper, so it’s in the family Hesperiidae, and because it’s a Grass Skipper, it’s in the subfamily Hesperiinae.
6. And these websites give you a wider, North American (or Midwestern, since tall grass prairies only exist here, though there is a small population in Manitoba) perspective of Poweshieks. http://www.xerces.org/powesheik-skipperling/ . This website has great info about the history of tallgrass prairies, the Poweshiek’s conservation status, description and taxonomy, life history, distribution, threats and conservation needs. Donate to this very worthy organization!
Nature Serve has similar information
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?sourceTemplate=tabular_report.wmt&loadTemplate=species_RptComprehensive.wmt&selectedReport=RptComprehensive.wmt&summaryView=tabular_report.wmt&elKey=116340&paging=home&save=true&startIndex=1&nextStartIndex=1&reset=false&offPageSelectedElKey=116340&offPageSelectedElType=species&offPageYesNo=true&post_processes=&radiobutton=radiobutton&selectedIndexes=116340 on threats, conservation needs, life history, and conservation status, but is a more scientifically expressed version of the xerxes entry.
See information about butterflies and moths (there are far more kinds of moths than butterflies, did you know) of North America here http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=2059 as well as some specifics about the Poweshiek. You’ll find photos, maps, classification, identification, life history, flight times, wing span, caterpillar and adult food, habitat, range, conservation status and management needs. You can donate to help them with their mission!
8. How can you help save the Poweshiek Skipperling and other butterflies? By good habitat management, on your land and on theirs! As Ann Swengel advises in her Paradise Lost article, when you’re in Poweshiek habitat, or any other endangered species habitat, observe, analyze, advocate – this is how she reached her heretical conclusion in management circles that fire can be harmful to Poweshiek’s and other rare species.
Manage them well on your own land, as is detailed in this website http://www.uwm.edu/People/rn/butterflyattraction.htm which describes how you can make butterfly habitat in your garden – you’ll need host plants for caterpillars, nectar plants for butterflies, water, shelter, a place to bask – and you must not use insecticides!
Be a conservationist everyday, in your own life, as tourist, landowner, voter and conversationalist! Help save the Poweshiek Skipperling and the natural world!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
June's Featured WI Endangered Species: St. Croix Snaketail
My thoughts about the St. Croix Snaketail (Ophiogomphus susbehcha, meaning of the snaketail genus, and the species Lakota Sioux for dragonfly), the endangered WI species I chose for June since its peak flight time is now!
1. Do you know what makes a dragonfly a dragonfly? Do you know what makes the St. Croix Snaketail unique?
Find some general information here: See UW-Madison Entomology website for dragonflies’ status, habitat, range and flight times http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/wes/pubs/dragonfly.htm , the WI DNR’s http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/invertebrates/dragonflies/ for what makes dragonflies what they are as well as info about other endangered and threatened dragonflies, the National Park Service’s http://www.nps.gov/sacn/naturescience/upload/Dragonfly%20factsheet-2.pdf for a dragonflies’ life cycle, from eggs, larvae to adult, and the discovery of the St. Croix,
and Integrated Taxonomic Information System’s http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=592874 for taxonomy.
Specific information about the St. Croix Snaketail itself is here: Explore the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center site
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/insects/dfly/wi/249.htm for a map of where it’s found in WI, the National Park Service’s St. Croix National Scenic Riverway http://www.nps.gov/sacn/naturescience/insects.htm and the DNR’s and Terrestrial Resources Inventory site http://wiatri.net/inventory/odonata/SpeciesDetail.cfm?TaxaID=101 for wonderful St. Croix photos, status, charachteristics, habitat, map and flight season.
2. There are still new things to discover – even in today’s WI!
Read about the inspiring discovery of the St. Croix Snaketail by William Smith in 1989, whose keen observation of strange “exuviae” (in this case, skins of the last larval stage of the dragonflies, as they leave the water for dry land) led to his recognition that he found a new species of dragonfly. Read The WI DNR http://www.lake-link.com/news/headline.cfm?NewsHeadlinesID=2705 , the
Wisconsin State Journal: http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/199198
and the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/12/science/a-delicate-creature-yields-its-secrets.html provide accounts.
3. Which leads me to the observation that this dragonfly is the first creature I’ve featured that is popular enough to hit the mainstream media, to be used as a fundraising tool by the National Park Service http://www.eparks.com/store/product/65124/St.-Croix-Riverway-Pin/ and be the focus of a popular high school research project. Read the next to last article http://cbm.wiatri.net/Partnership/abstracts04.cfm in which the Grantsburg High School students collaborate with the Citizen Based Monitoring Network of WI. Go to http://web.gk12.net/ to read about the students’ experience at the Great Lakes Odonata Meeting, a collaborative event between experts and amateurs.
Check out some gorgeous photos of dragonflies here, and a photo of the exuviae. I got the photo that my drawing is based on from this website!
Is there something that draws us to creatures that fly, earthbound as we are without artificial means – and especially to dragonflies. With their unique form, they seem magical, almost fairylike, as if they could have come from an enchanted land.
4. This creature has very specific needs, detailed in this WI DNR fact sheet http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/invertebrates/dragonflies/stcroix.htm .
Ophiogomphus are quite sensitive– the larvae can only live in a certain habitat with clean gravel of a certain size, in well-aerated warm water streams, and are very sensitive to water quality.
And, Snaketail’s are uniquely sensitive within the Ophiogomphus genus – they prefer larger, deep streams that flow fast and clean, with much cobble and gravel with sand substrates, bounded by largely forested watersheds.
5. Dams, organic pollution, inorganic sediments, waterway modifications, and shoreline modifications are each factors which could cause the extinction of the St. Croix Snaketail.
6. What can you do to help? If you live near their habitat, don’t use fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Keep your property forested. Oppose development and pollution. Vote accordingly. Amaze and educate your friends and family with the story of this unique creature! Support your WI DNR at http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/support/how_you_can_help.htm and the NPS http://www.eparks.com/store/product/65124/St.-Croix-Riverway-Pin/ , as well as River Alliance of Wisconsin http://www.wisconsinrivers.org/index.php?page=content&mode=view&id=83 . Even if you live elsewhere, join a local conservation organization to make a difference where you live. Think and act as if what you do on your own land, in your own city makes a difference, because it does! Help change the world!!
1. Do you know what makes a dragonfly a dragonfly? Do you know what makes the St. Croix Snaketail unique?
Find some general information here: See UW-Madison Entomology website for dragonflies’ status, habitat, range and flight times http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/wes/pubs/dragonfly.htm , the WI DNR’s http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/invertebrates/dragonflies/ for what makes dragonflies what they are as well as info about other endangered and threatened dragonflies, the National Park Service’s http://www.nps.gov/sacn/naturescience/upload/Dragonfly%20factsheet-2.pdf for a dragonflies’ life cycle, from eggs, larvae to adult, and the discovery of the St. Croix,
and Integrated Taxonomic Information System’s http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=592874 for taxonomy.
Specific information about the St. Croix Snaketail itself is here: Explore the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center site
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/insects/dfly/wi/249.htm for a map of where it’s found in WI, the National Park Service’s St. Croix National Scenic Riverway http://www.nps.gov/sacn/naturescience/insects.htm and the DNR’s and Terrestrial Resources Inventory site http://wiatri.net/inventory/odonata/SpeciesDetail.cfm?TaxaID=101 for wonderful St. Croix photos, status, charachteristics, habitat, map and flight season.
2. There are still new things to discover – even in today’s WI!
Read about the inspiring discovery of the St. Croix Snaketail by William Smith in 1989, whose keen observation of strange “exuviae” (in this case, skins of the last larval stage of the dragonflies, as they leave the water for dry land) led to his recognition that he found a new species of dragonfly. Read The WI DNR http://www.lake-link.com/news/headline.cfm?NewsHeadlinesID=2705 , the
Wisconsin State Journal: http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/199198
and the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/12/science/a-delicate-creature-yields-its-secrets.html provide accounts.
3. Which leads me to the observation that this dragonfly is the first creature I’ve featured that is popular enough to hit the mainstream media, to be used as a fundraising tool by the National Park Service http://www.eparks.com/store/product/65124/St.-Croix-Riverway-Pin/ and be the focus of a popular high school research project. Read the next to last article http://cbm.wiatri.net/Partnership/abstracts04.cfm in which the Grantsburg High School students collaborate with the Citizen Based Monitoring Network of WI. Go to http://web.gk12.net/ to read about the students’ experience at the Great Lakes Odonata Meeting, a collaborative event between experts and amateurs.
Check out some gorgeous photos of dragonflies here, and a photo of the exuviae. I got the photo that my drawing is based on from this website!
Is there something that draws us to creatures that fly, earthbound as we are without artificial means – and especially to dragonflies. With their unique form, they seem magical, almost fairylike, as if they could have come from an enchanted land.
4. This creature has very specific needs, detailed in this WI DNR fact sheet http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/invertebrates/dragonflies/stcroix.htm .
Ophiogomphus are quite sensitive– the larvae can only live in a certain habitat with clean gravel of a certain size, in well-aerated warm water streams, and are very sensitive to water quality.
And, Snaketail’s are uniquely sensitive within the Ophiogomphus genus – they prefer larger, deep streams that flow fast and clean, with much cobble and gravel with sand substrates, bounded by largely forested watersheds.
5. Dams, organic pollution, inorganic sediments, waterway modifications, and shoreline modifications are each factors which could cause the extinction of the St. Croix Snaketail.
6. What can you do to help? If you live near their habitat, don’t use fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Keep your property forested. Oppose development and pollution. Vote accordingly. Amaze and educate your friends and family with the story of this unique creature! Support your WI DNR at http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/support/how_you_can_help.htm and the NPS http://www.eparks.com/store/product/65124/St.-Croix-Riverway-Pin/ , as well as River Alliance of Wisconsin http://www.wisconsinrivers.org/index.php?page=content&mode=view&id=83 . Even if you live elsewhere, join a local conservation organization to make a difference where you live. Think and act as if what you do on your own land, in your own city makes a difference, because it does! Help change the world!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
