[Pollinator] The Xerces Society Announces the 2008 Joan Mosenthal DeWind Award Winners

[Scott Black]

March 14, 2008


The Xerces Society Announces the 2008 Joan Mosenthal DeWind Award Winners

The DeWind Awards are given to individuals 
engaged in studies or research leading to a 
university degree related to Lepidoptera research 
and conservation and working or intending to work 
in that field. From among the exceptional 
applications we received, the following three projects were selected:

Linking Local Behavior and Range-Wide Movement to 
Conserve a Rare Butterfly in an Urbanized Landscape
Allison K. Leidner, PhD candidate - Department of 
Zoology, North Carolina State University

Habitat loss and fragmentation by urban 
development pose severe threats to species 
viability. This research focuses on a newly 
identified Atrytonopsis species which uses 
heavily fragmented sand dune habitat along a 
30-mile stretch of North Carolina’s barrier 
islands. Combining local behavioral studies with 
range-wide analyses of population structure, this 
study will determine the effects of habitat 
fragmentation and urbanization on the movement of 
Atrytonopsis. Ultimately, this information can 
identify features in the landscape that promote 
movement, and be used to generate conservation 
strategies that will help maintain the long-term persistence of Atrytonopsis.

Climate Change as a Threat to Geometrid Moths 
along an Altitudinal Gradient in the North Eastern Andes of Ecuador
Genoveva R. Castañeda, PhD candidate - Department 
of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University

Climate change is predicted to change species’ 
distributions, potentially decoupling 
interactions among species, with related 
consequences for entire communities.  Ecological 
models and empirical data predict that these 
impacts will be more severe for montane species, 
as these species have upper limits to potential 
range expansion in response to warmer 
temperatures. This study will experimentally 
extend the altitudinal range of ants, the 
dominant predators of Eios geometrid caterpillars 
in the Andean mountains of Ecuador, in order to 
investigate the impacts that increases in global 
temperatures will have on ant-plant mutualisms 
and distributions of Lepidoptera.

Rising Treeline and Shifting Host-Plan Dynamics: 
Implications for a Monophagous Alpine Butterfly
Kurt Illerbrun, Graduate Student - Department of 
Biological Sciences, University of Alberta

Climate mediated treeline rise reduces the size 
and contiguity of alpine meadows worldwide, 
altering the ecology of alpine flora and fauna. 
On Jumpingpound Ridge in Alberta, Canada, 
treeline may be a major determinant of 
distribution and abundance for Sedum lanceolatum, 
host plant of the Apollo butterfly Parnassius 
smintheus, whose larvae are monophagous. This 
research will examine the effects of advancing 
treeline and herbivory on Sedum distribution and 
dynamics, and relate these effects to the 
observed responses in movement and herbivory 
pattern of Parnassius larvae. Knowledge of 
fine-scale resource usage by larvae will aid in 
understanding and predicting butterfly responses 
to habitat change in similar environments, with 
direct relevance to endangered lepidoptera.

Joan Mosenthal DeWind was a pioneering member of 
the Xerces Society. A psychiatric social worker 
by profession, she was also an avid butterfly 
gardener and an accomplished amateur 
lepidopterist. Her contributions of time, 
organizational expertise, and financial support 
were essential to the growth and success of the 
Xerces Society over the past 25 years. Joan also 
had a keen interest in young people, supporting 
what became the Young Entomologists’ Society. In 
Joan’s memory, Bill DeWind established a student 
research endowment fund in her name.

For more information on the DeWind Award, visit 
<http://www.xerces.org/dewind.htm>http://www.xerces.org/dewind.htm

Congratulations to the award winners and to all 
the applicants for their outstanding efforts in invertebrate conservation!



*************************
Scott Hoffman Black
Ecologist/Entomologist
Executive Director
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
4828 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97215
Direct line (503) 449-3792
sblack at xerces.org

The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit 
organization that protects wildlife through the 
conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work,
please visit <http://www.xerces.org/>www.xerces.org.


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