There is good news for the silvery-blue Karner Blue butterfly, as decades of habitat restoration and conservation are finally starting to pay off. The long-endangered species is starting to show increased numbers across the US, with their populations booming in parts of Ohio, New Hampshire, and New York.
Vladimir’s Karner Blue Butterfly Blues
The Karner Blue butterfly was first discovered in 1944 by Russian author Vladimir Nabokov, in Albany’s Pine Bush—a forest of Pine Barrens in New York. It was Nabokov’s fascination with the Karner Blue that sparked its popularity in the US, as well as recognition by biologists and conservationists worldwide. It can be said that Nabokov is the grandfather of the Endangered Species Act, as his obsession with the Karner Blue led officials to add it as one of first species to be protected under its legislation in 1992.
DECLINE IN NUMBERS
The Karner Blue butterfly lives in small populations in Miller Beach, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, eastern Minnesota, and New York, typically setting in the oak savannas and pine barrens that make great habitats for their survival. However, these habitats have been directly affected by increasing industry and land development long before Nabokov discovered them, leading to a sharp and steady decline in their numbers.
According to recent studies and fieldwork, increased deer populations, the frequent mowing of grass, and the use of herbicides that kill sources of nectar including the wild lupine–the primary food source of the Karner Blue—are other activities that can cause serious harm to their dwindling populations.
THE KARNER’S BIG COMEBACK
Since their placement on the endangered species list, more than two decades of conservation and breeding efforts are finally starting to show some positive results. In Albany’s Pine Bush alone, the Karner Blue has already increased from an initial 200 butterflies living on 13 acres, to 14,000 on 400 acres. According to the Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Program, this increase in numbers is a result of years spent fine-tuning methods used to raise and breed the species.
This includes the finding of a way to provide them with nectar 365 days a year, despite seasonal variations that may interfere with plant growth, as well as the inclusion of heterogeneity to their environment—a big fancy word that means “made up of parts that are different.” A heterogeneous environment is vital to the survival of Karner Blues, which require a diverse amount of environmental accommodations for each stage in their development.
However, not all conservation efforts have been so successful. Habitat restoration and breeding in Indiana has been largely fruitless, with populations of Karner Blue butterflies staying at consistently low levels for years.
