ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4508-7926
Date Awarded
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Biology
Advisor
Matthias Leu
Committee Member
Randolph Chambers
Committee Member
Donna Bilkovic
Abstract
As sea levels rise, coastal salt marshes, and the organisms for which they provision, face existential threats. A first step in understanding how projected marsh loss and reconfiguration may impact obligate species is to define their contemporary distribution and temporal shifts in structure using dynamic occupancy models. While occupancy models have commonly been applied to multi-annual butterfly studies, few have investigated population dynamics within a single-season. Here, we used Bayesian dynamic use models to define within-flight-period trends in adult salt-marsh skipper (Panoquina panoquin) use and state change probability. In doing so, we developed and validated a fully-Bayesian test for closure, and documented the ecology, behavior and detectability of this previously unstudied marsh-specialist butterfly. We found evidence that transects in our study system were open to changes in state across the field season, and, consequently, that transect use probability varied considerably by month from 0.35 to 0.84. Latent salt-marsh skipper phenology and transect quality were better predictors of within-flight-period dynamics than marsh area or isolation. This research highlights how variable population dynamics can be within a period of time commonly assumed to be static.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-dbpk-x154
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Mason, Sam, "Within-Flight-Period Dynamics Driven By Phenology And Transect Quality, Not Patch Size Or Isolation, In A Specialist Butterfly, Panoquina Panoquin" (2020). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1593091614.
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-dbpk-x154
