We surveyed butterflies in prairies, pine-oak
barrens, and degraded grasslands during 1988–2013 in
southern Wisconsin, USA. In prairie preserves (primarily
managed with frequent fire), both specialist and non-specialist
‘‘grassland’’ grass-skippers declined strongly. Specialists
inhabiting the native herbaceous flora of pine-oak
barrens that had little management but relatively
... [Show full abstract] consistent
vegetation over time had large fluctuations but more stable
trends. Grassland grass-skippers showed similar more
stable trends in barrens and degraded fields with relatively
consistent vegetation over time. Significant population
trends did not relate clearly to how southerly the species’
ranges are. Specialist and grassland grass-skipper persistence
after prairie preservation correlated negatively with
both number of years since preservation and prairie patch
size. We also analyzed grass-skipper abundance during
1977–2012 in midwestern 4th of July Butterfly Counts, an
annual volunteer butterfly census. Specialists declined
significantly but grassland as well as forest and wetland
grass-skippers averaged a non-trend. We hypothesize that
the reasons why fire management is adverse are because of
direct mortality and also the thick tall grass regrowth,
which may be unsuitable for larvae to use. It appears urgent
to identify and implement management strategies in prairie
preserves that consistently maintain grassland vegetation as
required by grass-skippers in ways the grass-skippers themselves tolerate.
