3rd Annual "4th of July"
High Alpine Butterfly Count
in the
White Mountains

Third Annual Count held on
Tuesday July 24, 2007! Details

Overview: We are currently planning for our third "4th of July" butterfly count (see NABA web site for details), to be held in July of 2007. The purpose of the NABA counts is to determine how many species and individual butterflies can be observed within a 15 mile diameter circle, during a 24 hour period, on the same date year after year. The White Mountain Count circle is centered on Piute Mountain, located in the Mt. Barcroft 7.5' quadrangle, in the center of the southern half of the Whites. The count area includes White Mountain Peak, the third highest peak in California at 14,250' elevation, the Barcroft Plateau and McAfee Meadow, a high alpine fellfield with springs between 12,000 and 13,000' elevation, the white-soil barren lands on the east slopes of sheep mountain, the alpine sage steppe and meadows below timberline on Campito Mountain and County Line Hill, the Bristlecone Pine Forest at Crooked Creek and Blanco Mountain (also on white soil). The count circle also includes numerous watered canyons such as Piute Creek and Coldwater Canyon, and reaches down to the valley floor on the west, but we are not sampling in these lower elevation areas at present.

One of the goals of this type of repeated annual count is to look for long-term changes in the butterfly fauna. For this reason the count area is set in advance and does not change from year to year. Similarly, we will pre-determine the timing (i.e. the time of the month) well in advance, and the count will then take place on that day regardless of conditions. The protocols are well described in the North American Butterfly Association NABA web site. NABA also administers the counts and publishes the count data each year in softcover format.

The primary goal of the White Mountain count is to survey butterflies from the high alpine areas of the White Mountains. The high alpine habitat is generally not accessible to butterfly counters in California, the White Mountains being the main exception. Because of the single-day restriction, we need to choose a date that will suit the flying period for the high alpine species. Any time before mid-July will generally be too early. Of course, this means that the spring flying period for many lower elevation species will have ended. The best way to sample the butterfly diversity at the lower elevations would be to hold an additional count, earlier in the year.

One of the challenges of conducting the WM count is the presence of similar species and varieties. We have met this challenge by inviting experts to join the count and assist with identification. We have also, as appropriate and necessary, taken voucher specimens for verification. The individual count pages (see links above) list the species ID'ed by outside experts.

We do not expect to set records for abundance or species diversity on the WM count. We do hope to find some unusual species, as well as provide baseline data in high alpine habitats and the great basin region. These data, accumulated over the years, may reveal shifts associated with floral and faunal changes that are predicted to take place over the next century. The count circle includes all the White Mountain GLORIA summits, and, if carried out over a number of years, will provide a faunal component to the WMRS-GLORIA project (see web page for more information). The WMRS-GLORIA project is designed to sample alpine environments over a long period of time, in order to detect changes which may be correlated to climate change. We also hope to spur interest in insect diversity in the White Mountains and the high alpine environment. Perhaps these results will spur more quantitative research.