title: The role of power line rights-of-way as an alternative habitat for declined mire butterflies.
abstract: Habitat loss is one of the greatest threats for biodiversity. In Finland, two thirds of natural mires have been drained for silviculture, which transforms open wetlands into dense forests. However, vegetation management of power line rights-of-way (ROW) maintain the drained mires as open areas. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the power line ROW vegetation management on butterfly abundance, species richness and community structure by comparing the managed power line ROWs to unmanaged drained control sites and to natural mires. The species richness or abundance of mire butterflies did not differ between the power line ROWs and natural mires. In contrast, both species richness and abundance of butterflies was low on the unmanaged control sites. Tree canopy cover had a negative effect on mire butterflies and this is most likely related to changes in microclimate. The results indicate that the active vegetation removal in the power line ROWs maintain alternative habitats for mire butterflies; yet, the power line ROWs cannot substitute the natural mires.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
authors.forename: Terhi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lensu
authors.forename: Atte
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komonen
authors.forename: Outi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hiltula
authors.forename: Jussi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Päivinen
authors.forename: Veli
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saari
authors.forename: Janne S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kotiaho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002080:Butterflies; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D056727:Endangered Species; D010067:Ownership; D010944:Plants; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013045:Species Specificity; D014197:Trees; D053833:Wetlands