When we think of climate change, we often imagine how a warmer world will impact species, but a new study highlights the importance of changes in precipitation.
When we think of climate change, we often imagine how a warmer world will impact species, but a new study highlights the importance of changes in precipitation. The finding suggests that paying attention to the environmental triggers within each species’ lifecycle will help us better understand how they will be affected by climate change.
The research focused on the Miami blue butterfly (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri), a federally-listed endangered species that exists solely in a pocket of habitat in southern Florida. Their federal status directs more resources towards their conservation, and understanding the Miami blue’s lifecycle in relation to our changing climate is critical for predicting how they will fare in the future.
Like many tropical insect species, the lifecycle of Miami blue butterflies includes a state called “diapause,” when larvae suspend their development during dry conditions. The onset of the wet season triggers diapausing larvae to restart their development into adult butterflies. The duration of the dry period, and therefore the duration of diapause, can have a significant effect on population numbers. If larvae have a short diapause, then they are more likely to reach adulthood and reproduce than if there is a long dry season with an extended period of diapause.
“We found that shifting rainfall patterns can determine whether the Miami blue butterfly populations grow or shrink, even without any other environmental variables changing,” says Erica Henry, a postdoc in applied ecology at NC State and author of the study. “This is not only concerning for this rare butterfly, but for all insects in precipitation-driven systems. Both the tropics and rainfall patterns have been largely overlooked in the conversation about climate change and animal lifecycles.”
Read more at North Carolina State University
Photo Credit: 165106 via Pixabay
