McGuire Center “Expanding Horizons in Lepidoptera Research”
Speaker: Erica Henry
Institution: School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
Title: Insect conservation in an uncertain future
Talk abstract: Key to insect conservation in an uncertain future is understanding how populations will respond to future environmental change and incorporating this information into conservation strategies. In this talk I will focus on 1) how changing precipitation regimes affect the phenology and population dynamics of subtropical species 2) the need to maintain historic disturbance regimes to increase population resilience to catastrophic hurricanes and 3) the importance of careful assessment of whether conservation strategies are working as intended. My studies of endangered butterflies and their host plants highlight mechanisms that link species life history to climate change responses and provide a framework for developing conservation strategies that are rooted in basic ecology.