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Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission
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David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU. And today, we're going to explore the delicate balance required to prevent extinction of a rare butterfly. It's called the Mitchell's satyr. It exists only in small pockets in Michigan and Indiana. And as it turns out, Washtenaw County is one of its homes. I'm David Fair, and welcome to this week's edition of Issues of the Environment. I wanted to learn more about the efforts to protect the hyper-rare butterfly and why its survival is important. And here to help us take a journey today is Allison Krueger. Allison is the Stewardship Planner with the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. And thank you for making time for us today, Allison! Much appreciated!
Allison Krueger: Well, thank you so much for highlighting this project! It's something that a lot of people are very proud of!
David Fair: When we talk about the Mitchell's satyr, there's not many of them anywhere in the world. I described it as hyper-rare, and that is apparently the case. Does it mean that it's a very specific type of habitat required for this particular butterfly to survive?
Allison Krueger: Yes. It is very rare and sparse across even the best habitats, and it's found only in the prairie fens of the Midwest. The Midwest is blessed with rich water resources, and, in some pockets, that's rich calcium water. And that leads to alkaline subsurface that helps build a very rich prairie fen wetland on top of it. The fen is known for diversity of flowering species and orchids, as well as rich diversity in a grass-like family called the sedges.
David Fair: So, you used a term that I think I've heard, but I can't really define it and maybe you just did. But what is a prairie fen?
Allison Krueger: Prairie fens are geologically unique, groundwater-fed wetlands, and they're only really found in the Midwest. Prairie fens are known for rich biodiversity, and in Michigan, they only exist in the southern Lower Peninsula. So, it's very local to our environment here.
David Fair: Why is it different than a typical marsh or swamp?
Allison Krueger: Yeah. So, prairie fens are fed by groundwater, and our groundwater here in Michigan, in this area of Michigan, often is calcium rich. So, it creates a basic or an alkaline kind of subsurface to the prairie fen. And this is very different than what you might have heard also the kind of counterpart to the fen is the bog, which usually exists on an acidic water substrate. The prairie fen exists in this groundwater-fed system, and it grows a very unique set of species because of that groundwater.
David Fair: And in this particular environment, the Mitchell's satyr has a rather short life cycle, but it is entirely dependent on that environment.
Allison Krueger: Yes. So, the prairie fen is incredibly diverse. It has rich both plant, animal, and all species in it. And it's very important to the Mitchell's satyr because their larva have to eat a specific variety of specific species of sedges to survive. And that is what is really prevalent in this high-quality fen at Park Linden.
David Fair: If I read correctly, this Mitchell's satyr butterfly spends 95% completely out of view and potentially underground and then has like a two-week, above-ground life span. Is that right?
Allison Krueger: Yes. And to add to difficulties for the species, it's even been described as a poor flyer, which makes conservation efforts hard because it can't disperse to new habitat if habitat is destroyed. So, the species lives in a larval stage throughout the entire year and only flies for about two to three weeks a year in southeast Michigan.
David Fair: And it's a busy two to three weeks. I mean, they learn to fly, they have children and move on with their lives.
Allison Krueger: Exactly, exactly. It's kind of a high point and then they hopefully breed, they drop their eggs and then let it be to the next generation.
David Fair: The Mitchell's satyr has been on the endangered species list since 1992. Does the fact that it's that rare and appears for such a short time make it more susceptible to illegal poaching?
Allison Krueger: We do have concerns about poaching. We have avid collectors of butterflies throughout the world that would like to have a specimen maybe in their collection. But the real threat and the reason we try to keep the exact location of the species a little under wraps is that we worry that people might want to go and see them. And then, they might trample the habitat or trample the butterflies.
David Fair: Is that why most places where this species exists are kept secret?
Allison Krueger: Well, that's where we keep ours a little secret. We do say that this occurs in Park Linden, but we don't have any trails through the areas where the Mitchell's satyrs are. That being said, that if you visit Sarett Nature Center or Kalamazoo Nature Center on the central and west side of the state, you can actually go and walk through a fen and actually see these species out and about in display.
David Fair: WEMU's Issues of the Environment conversation with Allison Krueger continues. Allison is Stewardship Planner with the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. Allison, it's said that, despite there being so few, these butterflies serve as a sort of canary in the... well, how do they say that?
Allison Krueger: Canary in the coal mine?
David Fair: Canary in the coal mine for environmental and ecological health, particularly when it comes to water quality. How so?
Allison Krueger: Well, we found that these smaller butterflies and the smaller, more isolated populations are very sensitive to loss of habitat, as well as contamination of habitat through chemicals. And a big part of what happens in terms of the chemical degradation is really from heavy agricultural use. The fen at Park Linden that we have our butterflies--our Mitchell's satyrs--at is this rich habitat that's then protected by our beloved Waterloo Pinckney Rec Center. So, the site is just very protected from outside and really human influences.
David Fair: What is the fear of what happens to these prairie fens if the Mitchell's satyr were to disappear and potentially leave some of these areas unprotected?
Allison Krueger: Well, I think we all love biodiversity, and we see it as a benefit. And so, we see the loss of these smaller species as a potential tipping point for the habitat. We don't want to lose the uncommon and then lose that which leads to losses of more common species.
David Fair: Is the changing climate a concern to the survival of the species?
Allison Krueger: The changing climate is a concern, and our team always wonders if we need to go out a little bit earlier every year and look at these. Luckily, we're supported by a strong network of the other land managers with Mitchell's satyrs, so we all kind of are on lookout and ready to act as soon as we hear the first flights have happened.
David Fair: You mentioned that you do go out each year. Does a formal effort include trying to get a good count of the Mitchell's satyr butterflies?
Allison Krueger: Yes, and I really have to give a shoutout to our folks over at the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, as well as John Ball Zoo and their Great Lakes Butterfly program in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They took the time to train our staff, which is primarily plant people, to be honest, we're a bunch of botanists, in the art of identifying Mitchell's satyrs. And the intent is never to touch the butterflies or collect them physically. But, yes, we are taking counts every time we go there .and in the last year, we recorded over 50 species in the environment
David Fair: Well, that's fantastic! As you have tracked this species in particular, the Mitchell's satyr, has there been an uptick because of preservation efforts, or have we seen a decline over the past several years?
Allison Krueger: Well, there are declines across the populations in Michigan, but we've seen tremendous success at Park Linden. The Mitchell's satyrs were first brought to the site in 2021, and they were brought as gravid or pregnant females. The intent was that those could lay eggs on the site. I got to say it was kind of a long year, waiting for July 2022, to see if those females could produce viable eggs. And we were absolutely ecstatic when we first saw them survive a winter onsite in July 2022. So, in those first years, we were counting three or four butterflies. And with continued efforts from a very successful rearing program up at John Ball Zoo, hundreds of butterflies have been brought to the site. And now, we really see a population that is doing so well that they're looking at bringing the reared butterflies to other locations to help improve the genetic pool in each of these very, very isolated, very small populations of Mitchell's satyrs.
David Fair: As well as they appear to be doing, I'm curious as to whether or not the still very few numbers of the Mitchell's satyr and existing and projected challenges make you more or less optimistic that this is a species that can avoid extinction.
Allison Krueger: Oh, that's a hard question, and one that I'm not 100% have the answer to. But what I can say, from the experience at Park Linden is I think that this has become a conservation success story for this species, is that we see when we have the right environment with the right protection and a good population, we see success. Now, to bring that success from Park Linden and out across to the other populations, that's going to be the research and the work of the team in the next few years.
David Fair: Well, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed and up to date! I appreciate the information and the conversation, Allison!
Allison Krueger: Well, thank you so much for showcasing this! We don't often get a chance to celebrate conservation successes in this world, and this is really a shining example of a long-term partnership that's bringing the species back to life!
David Fair: And that makes me very glad to be a part of the conversation! That is Allison Krueger. She is the Stewardship Planner with the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission and our guest on Issues of the Environment. For more information on our discussion today, head to our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it every Wednesday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti.
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