Type: report

Article abstract: This report summarizes our butterfly survey efforts of 2022. Additional analysis of habitat and vegetation data for this project/task are planned for 2023. Based on these surveys in 2021, a subset of sites was selected to perform a mark-recapture study and more accurately estimate population sites. Selected sites included Barrett Lake, Skye Valley, Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area, and Beaver Hollow (San Diego National Wildlife Refuge). Not surprisingly, the number of marked individuals demonstrated larger populations compared to the daily maximum count, but the number of adults were still low. Only a limited number of individuals were recaptured, limiting our ability to accurately estimate population sizes. Additionally, habitat sampling was conducted at several sites during the 2022 flight season. These data, as well as GIS derived data, will be analyzed in 2023. Overall, transect counts (visual observations) continue to describe small populations when skippers are present. However, the large size and uneven terrain of some riparian oak woodlands, patchy distribution of adult skippers, and shifting locations of San Diego sedge present challenges to accurately categorizing presence/absence and relative population sizes.