 |
Connect With Us
| |
Poweshiek Skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek)Candidate Species
Poweshiek skipperlings are small, moth-like butterflies most often found in remnants of native prairie in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin and in fens in Michigan.
The Poweshiek skipperling has been designated as a candidate for listing as threatened or endangered. During preparation of a status assessment in 2005, there was evidence that populations were declining throughout its range, particularly in Iowa and Minnesota. Data since then confirms sharp population declines in most of its range. Of particular concern is its apparent disappearance from the majority of sites in the heart of it range in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
Description of Poweshiek Skipperling and its Status from 2011 Candidate Notice of ReviewFederal Register 76:207 October 26, 2011: Review of Native Species That Are Candidates for Listing as Endangered or Threatened
The Poweshiek skipperling is a small butterfly that currently inhabits high-quality tallgrass prairie in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin and prairie fens in Michigan; it also occurs in the province of Manitoba, Canada. The species is presumed to be extirpated from Illinois and Indiana and from many sites within occupied States.
The Poweshiek skipperling is threatened by degradation of its native prairie habitat by overgrazing, invasive species, gravel mining, and herbicide applications; inbreeding, population isolation, and prescribed fire threaten some populations. Prairie succeeds to shrubland or forest without periodic fire, grazing, or mowing; thus, the species is also threatened at sites where such disturbances are not applied. The Service, State agencies, the Sisseton-organizations (e.g., The Nature Conservancy) protect and manage some Poweshiek skipperling sites. Careful and considered management is always necessary to ensure its persistence, even at protected sites. The species may be secure at a few sites where public and private landowners manage native prairie in ways that conserve Poweshiek skipperling, but approximately one quarter of the inhabited sites are privately owned with little or no protection. A few private sites are protected from conversion by easements, but these do not preclude adverse effects from overgrazing. The threats are such that the Poweshiek skipperling warrants listing; the threats are high in magnitude because habitat degradation and other stressors has resulted in sharp declines in the western portion of its range which contains more than 90 percent of the species site records. We assigned this species an LPN of 2 to reflect the ongoing, and therefore, imminent threats to the species’ habitat and sharp population declines documented recently, especially in Iowa and Minnesota.
USFWS Midwest Endangered Species Home
|
|||||||||||||
Last updated:
January 3, 2013
|
||||||||||||||||
|