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Member Symposium

Fire and Its Influence on the Ecology and Conservation of Insect Pollinators

Interactions between butterfly activity and fire characteristics over 17 years in a grassland landscape

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
8:00 AM - 8:20 AM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, C120-122, OCC
Oral Presentation

Fire is an essential disturbance that maintains grassland ecosystems by preventing woody vegetation encroachment and promoting heterogenous plant communities. Despite its necessity, fire may act as a double-edged sword that can both improve pollinator habitat and result in pollinator mortality. For example, butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) are sensitive to fire because larvae are relatively immobile and feed on aboveground plant tissues. Yet, populations of disturbance-adapted grassland butterflies may benefit from enhanced host-plant and floral resources following fire. Here, we explore interactions between butterfly communities and fire characteristics within an eastern prairie landscape at Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center (Pennsylvania, USA). Pollard walks were used to monitor butterfly communities throughout summer and autumn over 17 years (2007–2024), and these data were related to precise spatial records of fire activity before and during this period. At both the community and species level, we will discuss relationships between butterfly activity and fire characteristics such as time since fire, fire frequency, and pyrodiversity. Particular detail will be provided for the eastern regal fritillary (Argynnis idalia idalia), a historically widespread subspecies that is now proposed as endangered and only occurs at Fort Indiantown Gap.