Birds and Butterflies of the AlpineBirds and Butterflies of the AlpinePipits, Arctics, and Fritillaries on Mount Washington

VCE Mountain ResearchVCE Mountain Research

• Bicknell’s Thrush• Mountain Birdwatch• Mercury bioaccumulation• Climate modeling• American Pipits• Alpine Butterflies

Why Mountains?Why Mountains?

• Unique • Vulnerable

– Mercury– Climate

American PipitAmerican Pipit ((Anthus rubescensAnthus rubescens))

• Mt Washington• Mt Katahdin• Chic-chocs

American PipitAmerican Pipit

Our QuestionsOur Questions

• Is it feasible to conduct long-term studies of the Mt Washington population?

• Is there gene flow between populations?• Are they exposed to high levels of

mercury?• Do they warrant conservation status?

2 nests13 chicks4 adults

July 10-11 2 Nests 4 Adults 13 Chicks

BandedMorphometricsFeathersBlood

Deuterium: Genetic IsolationDeuterium: Genetic Isolation

Auk 2001

Blood MercuryBlood Mercury

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25

Araneae

Opiliones

Coleoptera

Hymenoptera

Diptera

Lepidoptera

Homoptera

Orthoptera

Hemiptera

Ord

er

Hg (ppm dry wt)

Ecotoxicology 2005

Wolf Spider

Next StepsNext Steps

• Analyze feathers for deuterium• Determine main food items• Determine mercury content of prey• Estimate population size

Alpine ButterfliesAlpine Butterflies

Arctic Fritillary (Boloria titania)

Melissa Arctic(Oeneis melissa)

Two Unique SubspeciesTwo Unique Subspecies

Kaufman 2006

White Mountain Arctic White Mountain Arctic ((Oenis melissa semideaOenis melissa semidea))

Allison Bell

State ThreatenedState Threatened

Two-year Life CycleTwo-year Life Cycle

Host Plant: Bigelow’s Sedge(Carex bigelowii)

Lek site

Sedge lawn

Sunny, Calm Flying Time is LimitedSunny, Calm Flying Time is Limited

• Completely sunny days: one in June, one in July, three in August

• Percent of minutes sunny: 21% June, 30% July, 28% August

• Days more than half sunny: 18 of 92

• June had five days more than half sunny, but three of those had an average wind speed of more than 30mph

White White Mountain Mountain Fritillary Fritillary ((Boloria titania Boloria titania montinus)montinus)

State EndangeredState Endangered

Fritillary Habitat: Fritillary Habitat: • snowbank• cushion-tussock• alpine streamside plant communities

Important Nectar SourcesImportant Nectar Sources • Alpine Goldenrod• Purple-stemmed Aster• Meadowsweet

Eastern Canada:

• Dwarf Willows

• Alpine Smartweed

• Violets

Western Populations:

• Willows

• Bilberry

• Blueberry

• Cranberry

Potential Host PlantsPotential Host Plants

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

% Butterflies Observed

Week

Oeneis melissa semidea

Boloria titania montinus

Flight PeriodsFlight Periods

WM Arctic WM Fritillary

% B

utte

rflie

s O

bser

ved

Week

14 J

une

23 J

uly

15 S

epte

mbe

r

RecommendationsRecommendations

• Monitoring protocol for Arctic- lek sites- transects

• Monitoring protocol for Fritillary- transects

• Determine survivorship and detectability• Determine host plant of Fritillary• Investigate shifts in timing of flight periods• Continue education efforts

Large format poster on display at Appalachian Mountain Club and Randolph Mountain Club huts in the Presidential Range

EducationEducation

Logistic and Financial Support:Logistic and Financial Support:

The Waterman Fund

White Mountain National Forest

Mount Washington Auto Road

Appalachian Mountain Club