Stewardship and Guidance for the Protection of the Rare Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle

Summary

Over three years, we conducted an in-depth habitat assessment and developed a monitoring and management strategy for the northern barrens tiger beetle to aid managers at Minnewaska State Park Preserve in protecting New York’s only occurrence of northern barrens tiger beetle. This project investigated the beetles’ biology to seek answers to the following management questions: 1) How can we avoid recreational and management impacts to adult and larval habitat?; 2) When is the beetle most vulnerable to disturbance?; 3) How large is the population, and thus how resilient to disturbances like fire and invasive species might it be?; and 4) Are there additional areas in the park occupied by the beetle? This project was part of a SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduate student thesis.