NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: climate change, butterfly, insects, species distribution

Objective(s): To assess and predict the effects of historical and future global changes on the spatial distribution of Canadian butterfly species through time. One of the key aspects of the CGCT to develop historical range calibrated models is the collection of butterfly species occurrence data across all of Canada. In the Yukon and Northwest Territories, the intent is to survey butterflies along highways and adjacent habitats to develop a current distribution map of butterflies in the North.

Project Description: The Canadian Global Change Transect (CGCT) is a project of the Canadian Facility for Ecoinformatics Research at the University of Ottawa. The goal of the project is to assess and predict the effects of historical and future global changes on the spatial distribution of Canadian butterfly species through time. One of the key aspects of the CGCT to develop historical range calibrated models is the collection of butterfly species occurrence data across all of Canada. In the Yukon and Northwest Territories, the intent is to survey butterflies along highways and adjacent habitats to develop a current distribution map of butterflies in the North. Butterfly surveys are undertaken on roadsides reached by car throughout the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Survey sites are selected by: in situ detection of butterflies or butterfly habitat adjacent the road, ex situ identification of suitable habitat by analysis of 250m landcover data, or analysis of our historical records and locations for places that are as to yet unsurveyed or have been surveyed in the past. During the survey, butterflies are identified to species level. Depending on the difficulty of the identification a butterfly may be identified by: sight, flight, capture and release, photographic recording, or capture and retain for identification by trained systematics at the Canadian Nation Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes. A small voucher collection must be prepared for expert validation of the validity of species identification. Two or more individuals of all species seen in the Yukon and/or Northwestern Territories will be retained by the CGCT at least until the records are vetted. The main benefits of the butterfly surveys are down the road in the form of climate change research which affects policy at many levels. The research team is happy to share the data and talk to anyone who is interested and would be happy to talk and share about the work in nearly any forum. The principal investigator can send a GIS map and excel database of the butterflies found and can also send along the end of season summary of the lab's work in email to anyone who is interested. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 24, 2012 to September 30, 2012.