Population dynamics and future persistence of the clouded Apollo butterfly in southern Scandinavia: The importance of low intensity grazing and creation of habitat patches

We investigated the population dynamics and future persistence of the last remaining Clouded Apollo butterfly metapopulation in southern Scandinavia. Based on three decades of surveys (1984–2015), we modelled colonization-extinction dynamics and local population sizes using habitat patch characteristics and connectivity, while accounting for imperfect detection and uncertainty in the local population sizes. The colonization probability increased...