POPULATION BIOLOGY OF CHECKERSPOT BUTTERFLIES AND THE PRESERVATION OF GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY

Long-term research on Euphydryas populations has yielded much insight into the requirements for conserving invertebrates. It also, however, has shown that too much time is required to obtain such insights species by species to preserve global biodiversity. Instead, quick sampling methods must be devised to take inventories of the biota in prospective reserves, planning use patterns in those reserves, and monitoring the results. Conservation biologists have about a decade to develop and deploy such systems if they are to play a significant role in preventing the loss of more than half of terrestrial biodiversity.