The ability of different locations of butterfly populations to connect important for survival

[Gloria]

Butterflies rely on connections amid changing climate
Oct 16, 2014 by Kat Kerlin

Butterflies rely on connections amid changing climate

The alpine butterfly lives in high-altitude meadows of the Rocky Mountains. The study focused on a network of them living along three ridge tops in Alberta, Canada. The butterflies' lives revolve around access to their host plants, the lanceleaf stonecrop and ledge stonecrop. Mother butterflies lay their eggs near these plants, where the larvae overwinter. A certain amount of snow cover is required to regulate the eggs' temperature before hatching.
But in the winter of 2003, the amount of snow needed didn't come. The population crashed, losing more than 60 percent of its members.

Here's where things could have gotten very bad for this population of alpine butterfly. But it didn't, at least not for the long term. Enough patches of butterfly activity remained that could easily connect with each other. This allowed the population to rebound with their genetic diversity mostly intact, according to the study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.

[dapjwy]

This makes me think how important wildlife corridors are to maintaining genetic diversity in countless other species.

[EllenW]

I agree dap. I think wildlife corridors are extremely important with so much habitat loss going on.