Few ecosystem restoration studies monitor arthropods as important components of ecosystem recovery. We tested the hypothesis that ponderosa pine restoration treatments would increase adult butterfly species richness and abundance by monitoring changes in butterfly abundance following restoration. To examine potential mechanisms of adult butterfly distribution, the host plant availability, nectar plant availability and insolation (light intensity) were sampled in restoration treatment units and control forests. Three patterns emerged: (1) Butterfly species richness and abundance were 2 and 3 times greater, respectively, in restoration treatment units than in paired control forests one year following treatment, and 1.5 and 3.5 times greater two years following treatment. (2) Host plant and nectar plant species richness showed little difference between treated and control forests even 2 years following treatment. (3) Insolation (light intensity) was significantly greater in treated forests following restoration.; To more specifically examine butterfly response to restoration treatments, larval distributions were assessed to predict the responses of butterflies to land management changes. Epargyreus clarus Cramer larvae were found in highest abundances on juvenile host plants (New Mexico locust), and were significantly higher on host plants located in sunny patches. Resprout vegetation was not utilized as extensively by larvae as nearby, non-resprout vegetation. From these data, we predicted an increase in E. clarus larvae following ecological restoration treatments. Our study supported this prediction; further sampling revealed larval densities were 4 times higher in treated than in control forests.; We also examined the effectiveness of butterflies as indicators of the pollinator community, and the contribution of restoration treatments to indicator development. We suggested regional indicator development and testing could be more effectively accomplished using a landscape-scale restoration experiments and present a format for developing indicator species. We presented existing evidence supporting the use of indicators in restoration studies and a case study, using ponderosa pine restoration to test the effectiveness of adult, day-flying Lepidoptera as indicators of pollinator groups. Adult butterfly abundances were found to have a significant, positive relationship with pollinator group abundances in restoration treatments.
展开▼
机译：很少有生态系统恢复研究将节肢动物作为生态系统恢复的重要组成部分。我们通过监视恢复后蝴蝶丰度的变化，检验了美国黄松恢复处理将增加成年蝴蝶物种丰富度和丰度的假设。为了检查成年蝴蝶分布的潜在机制，在恢复处理单元和对照林中对寄主植物的可用性，花蜜的植物的可用性和日照（光强度）进行了采样。出现了三种模式：（1）在恢复处理单元中，蝴蝶物种的丰富度和丰度分别在处理后一年比配对对照林中高2倍和3倍，而在处理后两年中分别高1.5倍和3.5倍。 （2）甚至在处理后两年，寄主植物和花蜜植物的物种丰富度在经处理的森林和对照森林之间几乎没有差异。 （3）恢复后，经过处理的森林中的日照（光强度）明显更大。为了更具体地检查蝴蝶对恢复处理的反应，评估了幼虫分布以预测蝴蝶对土地管理变化的反应。 Epargyreus clarus Cramer幼虫在幼年寄主植物（新墨西哥蝗虫）中的丰度最高，在阳光充足地区的寄主植物中的丰度最高。幼虫没有像附近的非新芽植被那样广泛地使用新芽植被。从这些数据，我们预测了经过生态修复处理后的克拉克幼虫的数量会增加。我们的研究支持了这一预测。进一步取样显示，经过处理的幼虫密度比对照森林高4倍。我们还检查了蝴蝶作为传粉媒介群落指标的有效性，以及恢复处理对指标发展的贡献。我们建议使用景观尺度的恢复实验可以更有效地完成区域指标的开发和测试，并提出开发指标物种的格式。我们提出了支持在恢复研究和案例研究中使用指标的现有证据，使用美国黄松恢复测试成年，日间飞行的鳞翅目作为传粉媒介群体的指标。发现成年蝴蝶的丰度与传粉媒介群的丰度在恢复处理中具有显着的正相关。
展开▼
