9530

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9530
• Author: Nelson, S. M. and D. C. Andersen
• Title: Butterfly ‎(Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea)‎ Assemblages Associated with Natural, Exotic, and Restored Riarian Habitats along the Lower Colorado River, USA
• USFW Year: 1999
• USFW - Doc Type: Regulated Rivers
• Copyright Material: YES

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BUTTERFLY ASSEMBLAGES ALONG THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER 491
arrowweed, alkali heliotrope, and coyote and Goodings willow. Butterfly .abundance [ln(X+1), ;
excluding Co7ias eurytheme counts] was significantly correlated (x=0.40, p<0.025) with flower or floret
abundance [In (X+l)] during 1997.
E~ppropriate quantity and quality of nectar can increase fecundity, larval fitness, and adult longevity of
some butterflies, all attributes potentially important for colony persistence (Stern and Smith, 1960;
Murphy et al., 1983; Boggs and Ross, 1993). Further, standing water, important to butterflies as a
moisture source in other riparian systems (Murphy and Wilcox, 1986), may be less common in the
Colorado River system now and replaced in importance by nectar from phreatophytic plants. Thus, the
low numbers of nectar plants at revegetation sites may be limiting taxa richness, abundance, or both.
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Figure 3. Seasonal variation in species richness (a) and total butterfly abundance (b) at Colorado River sites. Numbers along the
X-axis represent ages of revegetated sites
Copyright ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Regul. Rivers: Res. Mgmt. 15: 485-504 (1999)