Calendar

Lecture begins at 7pm
Questions and Networking hosted by Friends of the Pine Bush Community 8pm-8:30pm

IN PERSON: If you would like to attend in person, please reserve your tickets below.

VIRTUAL: If you would like to watch it online, please click here to get a link.

Pitch pine – scrub oak barrens are important habitats for rare Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). This is due to a unique combination of acidic, sandy soils and xeric conditions, as well as the structure, diversity, and phenology of the plants that comprise barrens communities. Many barrens in the Northeastern United States exist only as remnant fragments due to human development and have often transitioned into hardwood forests due to historical fire suppression. The loss of this incredible ecosystem has also led to the decline of several distinct species of Lepidoptera. The Albany Pine Bush Preserve protects one of the remaining inland PPSOB in eastern New York, and through conservation and active management, has become a refuge for rare Lepidoptera, including the well-known Karner blue butterfly (Plebejus samuelis). Beyond the Karner, twenty-seven Lepidopteran species of conservation concern that depend on barrens and shrubland habitat have been documented in the preserve. This lecture will explore the reasons behind the high diversity of Lepidoptera in barrens habitats, highlight the species found in the preserve, and explain how these species are managed and monitored to both protect them and to learn how management decisions are affecting the preserve overall. 

Alex Soldo is the Field Ecologist and Entomologist at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. She received her M.S. Degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and her B.S. in Conservation Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.

This lecture is being offered in a hybrid format.

IN PERSON: If you would like to attend in person, please reserve your tickets below.

VIRTUAL: If you would like to watch it online, please click here to get a link.