CONCORD, N.H. - An endangered species in New Hampshire, the struggling Karner blue butterfly, has received more and better habitat over the past few months through the stepped-up efforts of Fish and Game's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and some local school students.
Nongame program staff recently worked with a crew from Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) and the John Brown Company to clear trees and shrubs that were surrounding the butterfly's habitat on pine barrens near the Concord airport. Trees and shrubs were shutting out sunlight needed for healthy wild lupines and nectar plants. As the only food source for Karner blue larvae and the only plant on which they lay their eggs, wild lupine is critical to Karner blues. Adult butterflies drink nectar from lupine, spreading dogbane and other plants that also require lots of sunshine. Another corporate partner, New Hampshire Distributors, provided a water source to keep the new nectar plants watered.
Nongame program staff also worked with volunteers and staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to create clearings on a conservation easement near the main site where lupine and nectar plants could be sown. This work will provide habitat for Karner blues and act as a corridor linking the new habitat area to former Karner blue habitat on airport land nearby. Aggressively clearing away shade-producing trees has worked well for large populations of Karner blues in eastern New York, according to Steve Fuller, who has worked with the butterflies in that state and is a consultant for New Hampshire's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program.
"We saw some incredible improvement in Karner blue habitat because of intensive management of lupine," Fuller said. Fourth grade students from Concord and Deerfield have also helped Karner blues. In May, the students planted lupines that they had propagated at one of the habitat sites in Concord. Habitat enhancement is one side of the Karner blue restoration equation; reintroducing the species to the state is the other. Karner blue butterflies may have naturally persisted by colonizing scattered lupine patches. So reintroducing butterflies, either native or nonnative, to the airport site (which is near the area where the current population exists) may well improve the overall stability of the Karner blue around Concord. Karner blues could be reintroduced from resurgent populations in New York State. But before translocation is fully considered, every effort will be made to enhance captive rearing methods using Concord's own population. All involved with the project are optimistic about Karner blue recovery in the Concord area, despite the species' tenuous status. With improved habitat and enhanced captive rearing strategies, we may yet see a turnaround for this diminutive yet important part of the New Hampshire landscape.
