Investigating the relationship of habitat, genetic diversity, and occupancy in the locally rare frosted elfin butterfly, Callophrys irus

The frosted elfin butterfly, Callophrys irus, experienced a range-wide data gap where most populations had not been surveyed in over a decade, and many populations were believed extirpated due to a variety of external pressures (USFWS 2018). In 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in cooperation with American Conservation Experience and with support from States, collected data on a significant portion of the range of C. irus, which extends from Ontario to Florida, and west to Texas and Wisconsin (Albanese et. al. 2007). In response, the Science Support Partnership Request for Proposals has identified a need to analyze these data to look for trends that identify ‘habitat parameters that are important...