Natural History Wanderings

Lange's Metalmark Butterfly - Image via Wikipedia

Proposed Power Plants Endangers Three Rare Species

There is a conflict  between PGE and environmental groups over the proposed new power plants near the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. The power plants could threaten the refuge’s endangered populations of  Lange’s Metalmark Butterfly (Apodemia mormo langei), Antioch Dunes evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii) and Contra Costa Wallflower (Erysium capitatum var. angustatum).  All three species are found exclusively at the refuge.

The new power plants would burn fossil fuels.  The nitrogen rich exhaust of the fossil fuels would fertilize the dune’s nutrient-poor soils and support the growth of alien plants that could squeeze out the native plants that growth in the area.  The local native buckwheat, that could be lost by the spread of  invasive aliens, is the food source for the rare Lange’s Metalmark Butterfly.     To read more go the Bay Citizen article: Butterfly Could KO Antioch Power Plants – The Bay Citizen.