Snow cover is an extremely variable but critical component of alpine environments. We use long term population data on multiple small populations of the alpine butterfly Parnassius smintheus, combined with high‐resolution satellite imagery of meadows, to show a strong link between fine‐scale spatial and temporal variation in early‐winter snow cover and annual change in butterfly population size, accounting for up to 80 percent of the variation in annual population change. Snow cover in early winter for each meadow is the best predictor of annual adult population change, despite being estimated for a relatively short time‐window in late November. We identify a means by which subpopulation response to a local, short‐term weather variable can be assessed over a large spatial extent, but also at a resolution relevant to the biology and local dynamics of this alpine species.

中文翻译：

---

初冬积雪的空间变化决定了高山蝴蝶种群网络中的局部动态

积雪是高山环境中变化很大但至关重要的组成部分。我们使用高山蝴蝶Parnassius smintheus的多个小种群的长期种群数据结合高分辨率的草地草甸图像，显示出早冬积雪的精细时空变化与蝴蝶种群大小的年变化之间的紧密联系，占年种群变化的80％更改。尽管估计11月下旬的时间窗口相对较短，但每个草甸在初冬时的积雪是年度成年人口变化的最佳预测。我们确定了一种方法，可以在很大的空间范围内评估亚种群对局部短期天气变量的反应，而且可以以与该高山物种的生物学和局部动力学有关的分辨率进行评估。