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Marsh Fritillary survey and monitoring

Marsh Fritillary survey and monitoring. Dr Brian Nelson Research Branch National Parks & Wildlife Service Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government 7 Ely Place, Dublin 2. E-mail: brian.nelson @ environ.ie Tel: 01-888329 4 Web: www.npws.ie www.environ.ie. Outline.

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Marsh Fritillary survey and monitoring

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  1. Marsh Fritillary survey and monitoring Dr Brian Nelson Research Branch National Parks & Wildlife Service Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government 7 Ely Place, Dublin 2. E-mail: brian.nelson@environ.ie Tel: 01-8883294 Web: www.npws.ie www.environ.ie

  2. Outline • Lifecycle and ecology of the species • Habitat • Irish status and distribution • Why, when and what to monitor

  3. Marsh Fritillary Lifecycle and Ecology

  4. Lifecycle

  5. Lifecycle • Adults - end of May and June • Eggs laid within 1-2 days in single large batch. Foodplant Succisa pratensis • Larvae hatch 2-3 weeks later • Feed communally until 3rd instar then hibernate. Resume feeding early spring. • Larvae disperse and pupate end of April

  6. Habitats • Damp neutral or acid grassland with Blue moor grass Molinia caerulea • Calcareous grassland • Dune heaths • Conditions met on edges of bogs and fens, sand dunes, limestone pavement, tracksides • NOT on improved grassland, intact bogs, deeply flooded sites, woodland

  7. Vegetation & management • In Wales M24 Molinia - Cirsium dissectum. Most sites grazed or burnt • In Scotland acidophilous Molinia mires. Most sites lightly grazed • In Northern Ireland unmanaged, or extensive grazing with cattle • Rest of Ireland ???

  8. Foodplant - Devil’s-bit Scabious Succisa pratensis

  9. Abandoned/degraded bogLullymore Co Kildare

  10. Abandoned/degraded bogMannin/Island Lake, Co Mayo

  11. Calcareous grasslandClooncoose, Co Clare

  12. Calcareous grasslandClooncoose, Co Clare

  13. Calcareous grasslandParknabinnia, Co Clare

  14. Damp grassland/machairSheskinmore, Co Donegal

  15. Grazing management

  16. How does Marsh Fritillary occupy a site?

  17. Metapopulation Always occupied Occupied 75% of time Never occupied

  18. Fermanagh – green all sites with records; red

  19. Monitoring Marsh Fritillary • Adult short lifecycle and are not mobile. Transects not suitable • Webs highly visible, static and directly related to the habitat • Monitor in September • Recording can be done in spring to confirm site – also adult surveys • Search patches of scabious for 5 minutes to detect presence

  20. Appearance of the webs – two typical webs in short vegetation. Note the colour and amorphous shape

  21. A web in taller vegetation, Sheskinmore Co Donegal, incorporating dead leaves of the foodplant

  22. Marsh Fritillary web Parknabinnia, Co Clare, Sept 2010. Probably a hibernation web. Note the tight form of the web and position (not on Devil’s bit Scabious)

  23. Marsh Fritillary webs showing brown colour and dirty appearance due to presence of frass and dead leaves

  24. Irish distribution • Vulnerable A2c • Annex II Habitats Directive

  25. Monitoring Marsh FritillaryWeb counts

  26. Habitat assessment

  27. Height of vegetation

  28. Acknowledgments: Eugenie Regan (NBDC), ButterflyIreland, Caroline Bulman (Butterfly Conservation), Irish Peatland Conservation Council and Jesmond Harding.

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