This morning, we received an unexpected Twitter direct message from Minnesota Zoo conservation biologist Erik Runquist, who happened to be passing through the Lake Traverse Reservation after gathering the rare Dakota skipper butterfly in North Dakota.
Runquist (above) had seen Sunday's post, The SWO Lake Traverse Reservation roots of some MN Zoo Dakota skipper butterflies, and seeking to touch base, invited Bluestem and our romantic partner, a Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Dakota elder, out into the field. Though windy, it was a perfect summer day on the Coteau, and the chance to meet Dr. Runquist was our own version of meeting a rock star.
The Minnesota Zoo is the only place in the world doing Dakota skipper butterfly conservation. The South Dakota Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes:
STATUS: This species is a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. As a candidate, the USFWS has information to support the listing of this species, but other species have higher priority for listing. Dakota skipper received a priority of 11 on a scale of 1-12.
REASON FOR CURRENT STATUS: Dakota skipper populations declined due to widespread conversion of native prairie for agriculture and other uses. Many of the existing populations are isolated and existing habitat is fragmented. Dakota skippers are sensitive to artificial and natural disturbances and are almost always absent from prairies that are overgrazed or degraded.
Historical persistence may have depended on the vastness of the prairie and the availability of immigrants to repopulate areas in which the species was eliminated by disturbances such as fire or intensive bison grazing. Current threats include: over-grazing, conversion to cultivated agriculture, inappropriate fire management and herbicide use, woody plant invasion, road construction, gravel mining, invasive plant species, and in some areas, historically high water levels.
Dakota skippers once occurred throughout the grassland areas in central United States and south-central Canada. It now occurs in the fragmented sections of remaining grasslands.
. . .South Dakota remains one of the strongholds for this skipper. Dakota skippers are found primarily on the plateau in the northeastern corner of the state.
We drove to one of those fragmented sections of remaining grasslands, tribal land near Enemy Swim Lake. Runquist observed that he'd never seen as much clover growing on the land. It's not just an issue for the butterflies, but across the state, the Associated Press reported last week in Wet Years Fuel Sweet Clover Growth Across South Dakota. Adult Dakota skippers feed on native prairie flowers, with cone flowers as their favorite; the larvae are native grass feeders.
We looked for Dakota skippers (not that I could tell a Dakota skipper from a Tawny skipper) and once Runquist had seen four of them, he caught the one in the photograph below.
She would be held for no longer than 48 hours while she laid eggs, then returned to the spot where she was captured; there she would likely lay more eggs. The collected eggs are rushed to the Zoo, where the caterpillars they produce munch their way into pupaehood, whereupon they are transported to the Hole-in-the-Mountain is a 1,364-acre preserve south of Lake Benton in Lincoln County.
The preserve is owned by the Nature Conservancy. The Zoo collects the butterflies under an FWS permit that requires strict protocols to make sure the tiny insects persist in those places where they are found now, as well as at the Hole-in-the-Mountain preserve.The Dakota skipper project is funded by:
Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Disney Conservation Fund through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Grants Fund, the Minnesota Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, Aveda, Fair State Brewing Cooperative, Morrie’s Automotive Group, as well as donations from Zoo guests and members.
Funding for the next biennium was secured in the last Minnesota Legislature.
Check out Jennifer Borhus's 2017 story about the project in the Star Tribune, With help from Minnesota researchers, imperiled prairie butterfly takes new flight as well as this month feature in the Pioneer Press, Minnesota Zoo to release 400 endangered Dakota skipper butterflies.
Runquist will be doing three on-air appearances in the next week, he told us.
UPDATE: At KDLT, Simon Floss reports in Minnesota Conservationists Release Endangered Butterflies Back into Wild:
It’s a process that’s been called a win for nature by conservationists. Dakota Skippers, a common butterfly in the area all but disappeared three years ago.
Now, we’re again seeing more of the endangered species thanks to the Minnesota Zoo and The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota.
“We know that Dakota Skippers used to be here for many generations and for some reason they’re not here,” said Nina Hill with The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota.
Dakota Skippers butterflies inhabited the Sioux Empire for as long as conservationists could remember. Until they seemingly. vanished from thin air.
“Dakota Skippers are one of those butterflies that have collapsed dramatically. There are probably other species doing the same thing, we just don’t know about it,” said Conservation Biologist at the Minnesota Zoo, Erik Hornquist [sic].
Experts have some ideas as to why the species disappeared, like changes in climate or pesticides making their way to prairies, but have no way of knowing exactly.
“We can speculate a loss of habitat, the prairie has been broken up into smaller pieces,” said Hill.
Regardless of why, something needed to be done. The Minnesota Zoo along with The Nature Conservancy started nursing the skippers back to health.
“If we could use the zoo-based breeding operations like we would do for any other large mammal that you might think of at a zoo as a tool for conservation of this prairie butterfly,” said Hornquist [sic]
The process started in 2017. That first year, 200 Dakota Skippers were nursed back to health and released. The total jumped up to 250 in 2018. This year, they’re hoping to release 400 and the results speak themselves.
“We’re hitting those marks where we need to, we’re seeing individuals again, we’re reciting individuals that have been released out here. We think they disappeared from this spot about a decade ago. We’re also seeing them breed for the first time, in multiple decades. So, those are big wins,” said Hornquist [sic].
Conservationists say they can use the results from this restoration to help populate other areas in the future.
No word of the South Dakota origins of those skippers, but an upbeat story nonetheless. [end update]
Update, July 12: More coverage:
So much press for such a little #butterfly! Great work getting attention for the #prairie and the #DakotaSkipper @ErikRunquist. Joe Blastick needs to join twitter! @nhill224 @Nature_MN https://t.co/bnM3W9CT2k
— Marissa Ahlering (@mahlering) July 11, 2019
“There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”
— Sven Sundgaard (@svensundgaard) July 11, 2019
If you missed this morning's LIVE shot & story you can find it here: https://t.co/hsm5Neutau pic.twitter.com/K1ns55prD9
We helped fund this great project to reintroduce and protect Minnesota’s threatened prairie butterflies! 🦋 https://t.co/J0xpFu0EFj
— MN ENRTF (@mnenrtf) July 10, 2019
Photos: Runquist on the prairie (above). The temporarily captured butterflies (below). Photos by Sally Jo Sorensen.
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