Abstract
We conducted point counts in the alpine zone of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA, to estimate the distribution and density of the rare endemic White Mountain Fritillary (Boloria chariclea montinus). Incidence of occurrence and density of the endemic White Mountain Fritillary during surveys in 2012 and 2013 were greatest in the herbaceous-snowbank plant community. Densities at points in the heath-shrub-rush plant community were lower, but because this plant community is more widespread in the alpine zone, it likely supports the bulk of adult fritillaries. White Mountain Fritillary used cushion-tussock, the other alpine plant community suspected of providing habitat, only sparingly. Detectability of White Mountain Fritillaries varied as a consequence of weather conditions during the survey and among observers, suggesting that raw counts yield biased estimates of density and abundance. Point counts, commonly used to study and monitor populations of birds, were an effective means of sampling White Mountain Fritillary in the alpine environment where patches of habitat are small, irregularly shaped, and widely spaced, rendering line-transect methods inefficient and difficult to implement.
Highlights
The White Mountain Fritillary (Boloria chariclea montinus) is a subspecies of the widely-distributedArctic Fritillary (B. chariclea) and is endemic to the ca 1130 ha alpine zone of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA
We conducted this study in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA, in areas believed to be habitable by White Mountain Fritillary based on past observational records and museum specimens [6]
We chose to use a point-based sampling approach, rather than line transects, because the plant communities thought to harbor White Mountain Fritillary occurred in small, fragmented, and irregularly shaped patches, and surveys conducted along line transects invariably sampled large areas that did not include our target plant communities
Summary
The White Mountain Fritillary (Boloria chariclea montinus) is a subspecies of the widely-distributed. Arctic Fritillary (B. chariclea) and is endemic to the ca 1130 ha alpine zone of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA. This subspecies is a glacial relict that was likely widespread at the end of the last glaciation but that has since become isolated from conspecific populations as appropriate habitat in intervening areas vanished as the climate warmed. Mountain Fritillary was isolated from retreating tundra vegetation by advancing subalpine forest approximately 9000 years before present [1]. White Mountain Fritillary has been isolated from populations that followed the retreating tundra northward. The conservation status of Arctic Fritillary is considered secure globally, White
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