Red Car Property neighbors have noticed an increase in butterflies this summer. So much so, it seems at times butterflies have replaced hawks as the predominant winged creature on the blog.
Biologists Dan Cooper & Tim Bonebrake have been studying butterflies in Griffith Park. Their study was just published in the Journal of Insect Conservation. Their work looks at 100 years of records in addition to current numbers and extinction rates in Griffith Park (h/o LA Observed).
Bonebrake & Cooper call for urban conservation strategies connecting habitat fragments with larger islands like Griffith Park for increased genetic diversity. (Cooper has worked as a biological resource consultant to the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority, on both the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract subdivision & Menlo Property appeals.)
So the way I read this, it sounds like another good reason to conserve native hillside habitat between Griffith Park & Elysian Park. It's not just butterflies that need genetic diversity, but all species.
Read more: LA Observed
Journal of Insect Conservation, T. Bonebrake & D. Cooper, 2014
All our Red Car Property Neighborhood butterfly posts
*No expert was consulted for the original ID on these butterflies. However we are fairly confident in our earlier ID.
