Butterflies and habitat corridors

[Danfosha at aol.com]

<http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jun99/1999L-06-10-09.html>

BUTTERFLIES BENEFIT FROM WILDLIFE CORRIDORS

Wildlife corridors linking distant areas can benefit species that rely on 
patches of fragmented habitat, two new studies show. The studies may help 
scientists and land managers design more effective corridors. Research at the 
Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina found that 
butterflies are more likely to move between habitat patches that are close 
together or linked by corridors than between widely scattered patches. The 
butterflies studied need open habitat and vegetation, and were unlikely to 
travel across wooded areas to reach distant open spaces. More open habitat 
butterflies were present in patches linked by corridors than in similar but 
isolated patches. "Corridors are often designed with the thought that they 
benefit all species living in a given habitat," says researcher Nick Haddad. 
"Because habitat restricted species are most often threatened by 
fragmentation, corridors should be effective tools in conservation." The 
studies are in the current issue of the journal "Ecological Applications," 
published by the Ecological Society of America.