Butterfly Surveys in McMahon Fen Nature Preserve, Cook County, Illinois

Carter, K.C.; Wilker , James R.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121771 Copy

Description

Title

Butterfly Surveys in McMahon Fen Nature Preserve, Cook County, Illinois

Author(s)

• Carter, K.C.
• Wilker , James R.

Issue Date

2024-01-31

Keyword(s)

• Butterflies
• McMahon Fen Nature Preserve
• Cook County, IL

Geographic Coverage

Cook County, IL

Abstract

During the summer of 2023, Illinois Natural History Survey biologists from the Population and Community Ecology Lab at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, conducted butterfly surveys in McMahon Woods and Fen Nature Preserve. Seven surveys were conducted using a Pollard transect route designated by Linda Masters of Openlands, Debbie Antlitz of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and Doug Taron and Karen Kramer Wilson of the Chicago Academy of Sciences in 2012, totaling 2050 survey person-minutes. These survey efforts detected 714 butterflies, representing 33 species. Notably, the surveys revealed the presence of 16 species that were absent from Doug Taron’s 2012 surveys. Of these, the surveys revealed the presence of 2 sensitive butterfly species, which have experienced significant declines at the site: Dion Skipper (Atrytone dion) and Bronze Copper (Lycaena thoe). Conversely, 6 species were not detected in 2023 which had been observed during Taron's earlier surveys, 20 species were not detected in 2023 which had been observed during Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network surveys from 1996 to 2010, and 4 were not detected in 2023 which had been observed in both of the early survey periods. Using remnant-dependent butterfly populations as a metric to assess the current quality of natural areas and effects of restoration in areas that undergo long-term management has become a conventional evaluation and monitoring method in the Chicago region. The findings suggest the improvement of current landscape management strategies occurring in high-quality habitat patches for butterfly populations at McMahon Fen due to increased species richness and diversity indices from 2012 surveys. Recommendations to enhance butterfly habitat include controlling invasive plants, supplementing butterfly host plant communities through widespread seeding and planting, and continuing to exercise caution when implementing patchy-prescribed fires in land management plans. Such measures aim to contribute to the conservation and preservation of butterfly communities within McMahon Woods and Fen Nature Preserve

Publisher

Illinois Natural History Survey

Series/Report Name or Number

INHS Technical Report 2024 (03)

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Forest Preserves of Cook County

Copyright and License Information

This document is a product of the Illinois Natural History Survey, and has been selected and made available by the Illinois Natural History Survey and the University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is intended solely for noncommercial research and educational use, and proper attribution is requested.

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