Patterns and processes of nestedness in a Great Basin butterfly community

We examined nestedness and potential mechanisms causing that distributional pattern in resident butterfly communities of the Toiyabe Range, a mountain range in the central Great Basin of western North America. We tested wheth er life history characteristics, including habitat use and vagility, affect ed the relative degree of nestedness or mean species incidence. We also tes ted whether nestedness at the level of individual species was independent o f life history. Relationships between distributional patterns and habitat u se, particularly in:ecologically sensitive riparian areas, are relevant to ongoing conservation planning in the Great Basin. The distributional patter n of the 68 resident butterfly species in 19 Toiyabe Range canyons was sign ificantly nested, as was the distribution of all functional subgroups that we tested. Life history affected neither relative nestedness of species gro ups nor mean species incidence. More than 80% of the individual butterfly s pecies that inhabit the Toiyabe Range had distributions that were more nest ed than expected. Colonization does not appear to have played an important role in determining the composition of butterfly communities in Toiyabe Ran ge canyons. Likewise, selective dispersal has probably played a minor role in producing nested distributions of Toiyabe Range butterflies. Our results suggest either that impacts to riparian areas are not jeopardizing species viability, or that highly sensitive butterfly species have already been ex tirpated from the Toiyabe Range.