Butterflies of the Toquima Range, Nevada: Distribution, natural history, and comparison to the Toiyabe Range

Studies of Great Basin faunas can provide information for landscape-level a daptive management by federal agencies and shed light on potential effects of climate change in continental interior landscapes. To provide such infor mation, we characterized the butterfly fauna of the Toquima Range, a mounta in range in the heart of the Great Basin with topography typical of the reg ion. We also compared the butterfly fauna of the Toquima Range to that of t he adjacent Toiyabe Range, which is more topographically complex and specie s rich but less representative of the Great Basin on the whole. We explicit ly addressed the effects of area and water availability on butterfly specie s richness. Butterfly species presence data were compiled for 14 canyons an d 1 peak in the Toquima Range. Data from 11 canyons that we inventoried sys tematically were amenable to statistical analysis. Eighty butterfly species (59 residents) have been recorded from the Toquima Range since 1935. By co mparison, 99 species have been recorded from the Toiyabe Range. Mean canyon -level butterfly species richness was significantly lower in the Toquima Ra nge than in the Toiyabe Range. This difference cannot be explained by diffe rences in canyon size between the mountain ranges. Within the Toquima Range water availability seems to have a dominant effect on butterfly species ri chness. Between mountain ranges species richness is influenced by interacti ons among area, moisture, and topography. These data should assist managers in developing guidelines for conservation planning in the Great Basin.