Assessing the availability of protected habitats for an imperiled Florida butterfly

Insects play critical roles in ecosystems, from pollination to nutrient cycling. However, insects are declining globally, with U.S. butterfly declines documented at a rate of 22% over 20 years. Spatial ecology seeks to understand the distribution of organisms across space, and explain how resource availability, dispersal ability, and habitat fragmentation impact species persistence. Examining the availability of suitable habitat for at-risk species can provide insights into how the spatial structure of populations and landscapes influences conservation outcomes. The Loammi skipper (Atrytonopsis loammi) is a small, at-risk Florida butterfly. It is not clear how much of its habitat remains in Florida, and how much of this habitat is protected. Here, we identify the most common land cover types in which A. loammi is found based on publicly available data and assess their availability within protected conservation lands as classified by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI). We built a model in ArcGIS Pro to rank the top ten habitats in which A. loammi occurs. We then extract habitat areas based on those that fall within Florida Land Managed Areas. Our findings show that A. loammi has a high reliance on protected lands, with over half of the top habitat areas falling within these sites. Atrytonopsis loammi occurrences in pasture, rural, and urban areas indicate that A. loammi can migrate through these areas. However, ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation may increase isolation of A. loammi habitat patches. Therefore, conserving suitable habitat to preserve movement corridors is critical.