Grazing management impacts on the viability of the threatened bog fritillary butterfly Proclossiana eunomia

Published source details Schtickzelle N., Turlure C. & Baguette M. (2007) Grazing management impacts on the viability of the threatened bog fritillary butterfly Proclossiana eunomia. Biological Conservation, 136, 651-660.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Maintain or restore traditional water meadows and bogs Action Link

Maintain or restore traditional water meadows and bogs

A replicated, before-and-after study in 1992–2006 in a wet grassland in Wallonia, Belgium (Schtickzelle et al. 2007) found that cattle grazing reduced the use of wet grassland patches by bog fritillaries Proclossiana eunomia, and reduced the number of adults emerging. From 1–4 years after grazing of the wet grassland began, the number of bog fritillaries using grazed areas (6–10% of recaptures) was lower than before grazing started (17–44% of recaptures). The number of butterflies which emerged on grazed patches was also lower after grazing commenced than before grazing (data not presented). From July 2002–June 2004, Galloway cattle were grazed in a wet grassland reserve (June–September: 0.43–0.75 cows/ha; October–May: 0.11–0.38 cows/ha), but were excluded from four patches of high-quality bog fritillary habitat that were monitored (1.05 ha). In the grazed areas, three patches of low-quality habitat (1.26 ha) were monitored. From 1992–2006, bog fritillaries were monitored by catching, marking, releasing and re-catching individuals in all seven patches (details not provided). Each year, the “use rate” of each patch (number of recaptures within the patch divided by the total number of recaptures across all patches) and “emergence” (number of butterflies caught soon after emergence in each patch) were calculated.

(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)