Fire and the management of habitat quality in an Australian lycaenid butterfly, Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida Crosby, the Eltham copper
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Published source details
New T., Van Praagh B. & Yen A. (2000) Fire and the management of habitat quality in an Australian lycaenid butterfly, Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida Crosby, the Eltham copper. Metamorphosis, 11, 154-163.
Published source details New T., Van Praagh B. & Yen A. (2000) Fire and the management of habitat quality in an Australian lycaenid butterfly, Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida Crosby, the Eltham copper. Metamorphosis, 11, 154-163.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Use prescribed fire to maintain or restore disturbance in forests Action Link |
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Use prescribed fire to maintain or restore disturbance in forests
A replicated, before-and-after study in 1998–1999 in two Eucalyptus forest sites in Victoria, Australia (New et al 2000) reported that in the following spring after selective habitat burning there were fewer Eltham copper Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida caterpillars than before. One week after burning, 580 caterpillars were counted at the western colony (numbers for the eastern colony not provided), indicating some had survived the fire. By the following spring, caterpillars were found in both the burnt and unburnt patches but in lower numbers than in the previous year (data not provided). In the spring and summer following the burning, adult butterflies were found in both burnt and unburnt areas of both sites, but at one site (the eastern colony), they were mostly concentrated in the unburnt areas. Two forested sites with populations of the Eltham copper were partially burned in April 1998 (50% of the eastern colony and 75% of the western colony). Individual Bursaria spinosa plants (the sole larval food plant), on which caterpillars had been found prior to burning, were marked and avoided by the burning. Burning was planned for as late as possible in the summer to increase the likelihood that caterpillars would be well-fed and not suffer from the removal of vegetation prior to overwintering. Numbers of caterpillars and butterflies were surveyed at the two sites a week after the fire and in the following spring and summer (further survey timings not provided).
(Summarised by: Eleanor Bladon)
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