The book addresses this critical need by providing a straightforward and easy to read primer to key elements of at-risk butterfly conservation programs including captive husbandry, organism reintroduction, habitat restoration, population monitoring, recovery planning and cooperative programs.
Impacts from habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, and climate change continue to accelerate the rate of imperilment and necessitate increased conservation action.
Zoos, natural history museums, botanical gardens and wildlife agencies are progressively focusing on insects, particularly charismatic groups such as butterflies and native pollinators, to help advance local conservation efforts and foster increased community interest and engagement.
Today, many institutions and their partners have successfully initiated at-risk butterfly conservation programs, and numerous others are exploring ways to become involved. However, insufficient experience and familiarity with insects is a critical constraint preventing staff and institutions from adequately planning, implementing and evaluating organism-targeted activities.
The information provided is intended to improve staff practices, learn from existing programs, promote broader information exchange, and strengthen institutional ability to develop new or improve existing butterfly conservation initiatives.
The information provided is intended to improve staff practices, learn from existing programs, promote broader information exchange, and strengthen institutional ability to develop new or improve existing butterfly conservation initiatives.This book will be useful to professionals from zoos, natural history museums, botanical gardens, wildlife agencies, conservation organizations, land managers, students, and scientist in conservation biology, ecology, entomology, biology, and zoology.
Author Biography:
Jaret C. Daniels, Ph.D. Assistant Director of Exhibits and Public Programs Assistant Curator of Lepidoptera IFAS Assistant Professor of Entomology at Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. For a bit of background, the proposed book was born out of a larger conservation program I have been running called Imperiled Butterfly Conservation and Management. The proposed book serves as a detailed and augmented proceeding of the 3-year program. Imperiled Butterfly Conservation and Management (IBCM) is an intensive cross-training program designed to strengthen the capacity of institutions and their staff to play a strategic role in the emergent and increasingly important field of insect conservation biology, with a targeted focus on imperiled butterfly recovery. Zoos, natural history museums, botanical gardens and state and federal wildlife agencies are progressively focusing on insects, particularly charismatic groups such as butterflies and pollinators, to help advance local conservation efforts and foster increased environmental stewardship, science literacy and community engagement. However, insufficient experience and familiarity with insects prevent staff and institutions from adequately planning, implementing and evaluating conservation activities. The three-year IBCM program directly addresses this critical gap by focusing on institutional and staff development. The program was led by the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the University of Florida and the Butterfly Conservation Initiative. IBCM is a broad partnership that also involves the Chicago Academy of Sciences' Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum; the Oregon Zoo in Portland, OR; the Toledo Zoo in Toledo, Ohio; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, FL; the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in Silver Spring, MD and the University of Florida IFAS Department of Entomology and Nematology. IBCM was funded by a grant from Institute of Museum and Library Services 21st Century Museum professionals program.
