Metapopulation persistence of an endangered butterfly in a fragmented landscape

摘要: We describe an extensive metapopulation study on the Glanville fritillary Melitaea cinxia, in a network of 1502 discrete habitat patches, comprising entire distribution this butterfly species Finland. A thorough survey easily detected larval groups revealed local population 536 patches (dry meadows). demonstrate that system satisfies four necessary conditions for to persist balance between stochastic extinctions and recolonizations. Patterns patch occupancy support several qualitative quantitative model predictions. With decreasing regional density average area occurs diminishing fraction suitable habitat. To our knowledge, is first conclusive demonstration, based comparison many conspecific metapopulations, declining hence increasing threat survival caused by fragmentation