Creating Better Working Landscapes in Post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Lands: Promoting Butterfly and Floral Resource Populations Through Patch-Burn Grazing (PBG) and Over-Seeding
Abstract
Declines in pollinator populations are a concern globally, and more information is needed to help conserve them. We studied how post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands could be managed as pollinator habitat. Our study occurred in Hettinger, ND from 2017-2021. We assessed the effects of patch-burn grazing on butterflies and floral resources. We also assessed the success of over-seeding to enhance flowering resources utilized by butterflies. We found that different butterfly species exhibited site selection based on time-since-fire, indicating that patch-burn grazing may be an effective grassland management method for creating diversity. We also found that grazer species (sheep or cattle) was influential on butterfly and vegetative communities. Our over-seeding efforts yielded low seedling establishment, but models indicated that drought and herbivory potentially influenced this. Overall, our results suggest that post-CRP working landscapes may benefit pollinators, but there are many challenges to create more forb-rich environments in these low diversity landscapes.