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Butterfly
Restoration Project Launches with Big Grant from BP
On
December 7, BP (formerly BP Amoco) awarded a $100,000 Leader
Award to the Peggy Notebaert
Nature Museum to help launch the innovative Butterfly
Restoration Project. Led by Nature Museum biologist Doug
Taron, the project is an extension of Chicago Wilderness’s
existing Butterfly Monitoring Network. Taron and colleagues
will identify two butterfly species for reintroduction to
appropriate natural sites. BP employees will join other
volunteers participating in the program to gather field
data.
"One
important result of the project," Taron explained, "will
be the establishment of two new butterfly colonies accompanied
by a comparative study of the molecular diversity of both
donor and recipient populations. This is believed to be
the very first instance in which a butterfly translocation
will be coupled with molecular analysis of the population."
Eventually,
this process could lead to the restoration of hundreds of
species of butterflies and other invertebrates into this
region’s prairies, woodlands, and wetlands. "We are
proud that, through our financial contribution and employee
involvement, we are able to help expand the reach of leading
organizations such as the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum,"
said Doris Salomón, BP director of community affairs.
For
more information about the Butterfly Monitoring Network,
call the Chicago Wilderness Habitat Project at (847) 965-9239.
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