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Butterfly community recovery in degraded rainforest habitats in the Upper Guinean Forest Zone (Kakum forest, Ghana)
Abstract
Successful regeneration of secondary tropical forest might be crucial in the conservation of rainforests, since large areas
of primary forest have been destroyed or degraded. Animal communities might play an important role in restoration of biological
diversity in these secondary habitats, since some groups have high mobility and capacity for dispersal. Fruit-feeding butterflies
were trapped to measure differences between butterfly communities in primary rainforest and disturbed forest habitats of different
stage of regeneration including clear-cut, abandoned farmland, newly planted forest and middle-aged secondary growth. 3465
specimens representing 114 species were identified from 56 traps operated for 36days. Extremely high values of rarefied species
richness were estimated in the clear-cut habitat, due to the high number of singletons and doubletons. This was caused by
a gap-effect that allowed penetration of canopy and open area species after disturbance. The differences between butterfly
communities were best demonstrated through ecological composition, richness and abundance of indicator groups and habitat
similarity based on Jaccard’s similarity index. The results show a clear ability of butterfly communities in degraded forest
habitats to regenerate in 50–60years after clearance.
KeywordsButterfly community recovery–Fruit-feeding butterflies–Rainforest regeneration–Kakum forest–Ghana
... Increasingly, animal communities are being used to assess restoration impacts and ecological function (eg, Bihn et al. 2010;Grimbacher and Catterall 2007;Sáfián et al. 2011;Ribeiro et al. 2010). Because they are fairly easy to monitor and can represent various functional and trophic levels, invertebrates are often used. ...
... Shuey et al. (2012) found no relationship between the α-diversity of moth species and plant species in North American oak barrens, sand prairies and their degradation endpoints. In assessing butterfly communities across a forested disturbance gradient in Ghana, Sáfián et al. (2011) reported that estimated (Chao1) butterfly species richness in clear-cut and farmland habitats adjacent to forests was high relative to recovering and undisturbed forest habitats. They interpreted their results as indicative of the nature of temporary gap habitats in rainforests, which are capable of supporting mobile species of open habitats, but which Fig. 4 Community correlations between habitat structure and butterflies. ...
... Thus, it should come as no surprise that our measures of α-diversity across our sites create conflicting (and generally not statistically significant) trends. Similar to Sáfián et al. (2011) and Ribeiro et al. (2010), some of our measures, such as observed butterfly species richness and Brillouin D, trend higher in reforestations/restorations. But this is not because the communities are "restored" but rather because these habitats retain virtually the entire ruderal community present prior to restoration, while adding a significant portion of the targeted forest community in response to structural changes associated with forest recovery (see Tables 2, 3, 4). ...
The Atlantic forest is one of the most diverse biomes on Earth but human activities are transforming this ecosystem into one of the most endangered. Most remnant old-growth rainforest is embedded within a mosaic of regenerating forest, tree plantations, pastures, and agricultural production. This has left a large percentage of the region’s endemic species threatened with extinction. Butterflies are considered as sensitive indicators of ecological conditions, especially in the Atlantic forest. This community can provide a window into animal response to restoration and how recovering habitats are used by native animal communities. The primary goal of this paper was to determine if butterfly communities respond to measures of structural recovery in naturally regenerating and re-forested pastures, and if this response increases the similarity of recovering butterfly communities relative to those of intact forests. Butterfly communities were sampled using two sampling methodologies, passive bait trapping and timed meander counts. These data sets were combined and correlated to assessment of habitat structure. We found that butterfly communities respond rapidly to structural changes in habitats as forest structure recovers on abandoned and restored pastures. While many species of mature forest inhabiting butterflies use regenerating forests as habitat,our young forests also retained an almost intact community of ruderal pasture inhabiting butterflies as well, indicating that these habitats retain many features of highly disturbed pastures. We suggest that measures of beta-diversity, which can be used to assess convergence in community structure, are far superior to the alpha-diversity measures that are typically used for assessing restoration recovery
... Increasingly, animal communities are being used to assess restoration impacts and ecological function (eg, Bihn et al. 2010;Grimbacher and Catterall 2007;Sáfián et al. 2011;Ribeiro et al. 2010). Because they are fairly easy to monitor and can represent various functional and trophic levels, invertebrates are often used. ...
... Shuey et al. (2012) found no relationship between the α-diversity of moth species and plant species in North American oak barrens, sand prairies and their degradation endpoints. In assessing butterfly communities across a forested disturbance gradient in Ghana, Sáfián et al. (2011) reported that estimated (Chao1) butterfly species richness in clear-cut and farmland habitats adjacent to forests was high relative to recovering and undisturbed forest habitats. They interpreted their results as indicative of the nature of temporary gap habitats in rainforests, which are capable of supporting mobile species of open habitats, but which Fig. 4 Community correlations between habitat structure and butterflies. ...
... Thus, it should come as no surprise that our measures of α-diversity across our sites create conflicting (and generally not statistically significant) trends. Similar to Sáfián et al. (2011) and Ribeiro et al. (2010), some of our measures, such as observed butterfly species richness and Brillouin D, trend higher in reforestations/restorations. But this is not because the communities are "restored" but rather because these habitats retain virtually the entire ruderal community present prior to restoration, while adding a significant portion of the targeted forest community in response to structural changes associated with forest recovery (see Tables 2 , 3, 4). ...
The Atlantic forest is one of the most diverse biomes on Earth but human activities are transforming this ecosystem into one of the most endangered. Most remnant old-growth rainforest is embedded within a mosaic of regenerating forest, tree plantations, pastures, and agricultural production. This has left a large percentage of the region’s endemic species threatened with extinction. Butterflies are considered as sensitive indicators of ecological conditions, especially in the Atlantic forest. This community can provide a window into animal response to restoration and how recovering habitats are used by native animal communities. The primary goal of this paper was to determine if butterfly communities respond to measures of structural recovery in naturally regenerating and re-forested pastures, and if this response increases the similarity of recovering butterfly communities relative to those of intact forests. Butterfly communities were sampled using two sampling methodologies, passive bait trapping and timed meander counts. These data sets were combined and correlated to assessment of habitat structure. We found that butterfly communities respond rapidly to structural changes in habitats as forest structure recovers on abandoned and restored pastures. While many species of mature forest inhabiting butterflies use regenerating forests as habitat, our young forests also retained an almost intact community of ruderal pasture inhabiting butterflies as well, indicating that these habitats retain many features of highly disturbed pastures. We suggest that measures of beta-diversity, which can be used to assess convergence in community structure, are far superior to the alpha-diversity measures that are typically used for assessing restoration recovery.
... The massive recent and ongoing deforestation/ degradation of tropical forests (in several West African countries, forest cover loss exceeds 90%; Safian et al. 2011) has dramatic consequences for the highly diverse Lepidoptera fauna adapted to these climax ecosystems. Agri-and silvicultural mosaics where the percentage of converted original forest exceeds 30%, including selective logging of three or more large trees per hectare, show species compositional shifts with loss of many components of the butterfly community (Brown 1997). ...
... Agri-and silvicultural mosaics where the percentage of converted original forest exceeds 30%, including selective logging of three or more large trees per hectare, show species compositional shifts with loss of many components of the butterfly community (Brown 1997). Hence, the only way to repair some of the damage is the combination of thorough protection of remaining patches of primary forests, successful regeneration of secondary forests, and targeted reforestation projects within agro-forestry systems and clear-cut areas (Schulze et al. 2004;Safian et al. 2011). Species recolonization rates depend primarily on lifehistory characteristics, patch size and biological structure, distance to source patches and permeability of the intervening matrix. ...
... Species recolonization rates depend primarily on lifehistory characteristics, patch size and biological structure, distance to source patches and permeability of the intervening matrix. Still, the often substantial dispersal/recolonization potential of tropical butterfly and moth communities allows them to regenerate several decades after clearance (Hilt & Fiedler 2005;Safian et al. 2011). Obviously, recent conversion by agriculture in areas originally not fully forested need protection and restoration of the original set of biotopes (e.g. ...
... The massive recent and ongoing deforestation/ degradation of tropical forests (in several West African countries, forest cover loss exceeds 90%; Safian et al. 2011) has dramatic consequences for the highly diverse Lepidoptera fauna adapted to these climax ecosystems. Agri-and silvicultural mosaics where the percentage of converted original forest exceeds 30%, including selective logging of three or more large trees per hectare, show species compositional shifts with loss of many components of the butterfly community (Brown 1997). ...
... Agri-and silvicultural mosaics where the percentage of converted original forest exceeds 30%, including selective logging of three or more large trees per hectare, show species compositional shifts with loss of many components of the butterfly community (Brown 1997). Hence, the only way to repair some of the damage is the combination of thorough protection of remaining patches of primary forests, successful regeneration of secondary forests, and targeted reforestation projects within agro-forestry systems and clear-cut areas (Schulze et al. 2004;Safian et al. 2011). Species recolonization rates depend primarily on lifehistory characteristics, patch size and biological structure, distance to source patches and permeability of the intervening matrix. ...
... Species recolonization rates depend primarily on lifehistory characteristics, patch size and biological structure, distance to source patches and permeability of the intervening matrix. Still, the often substantial dispersal/recolonization potential of tropical butterfly and moth communities allows them to regenerate several decades after clearance (Hilt & Fiedler 2005;Safian et al. 2011). Obviously, recent conversion by agriculture in areas originally not fully forested need protection and restoration of the original set of biotopes (e.g. ...
Lepidoptera are one of the four major insect orders. They are scale-winged insects, traditionally divided into three major assemblages: micro-moths, butterflies and macro-moths. Before discussing practical conservation of Lepidoptera, it is necessary to consider their known rates and causes of change, and whether these are representative of other insect species. The chapter states that declines in Lepidoptera are driven primarily by factors that affect all species, rather than by targeted overcollecting. Butterflies may be useful indicators of habitat change. The chapter suggests that butterflies can be sensitive predictors of the impacts of environmental change on other organisms, as well as useful representatives of less conspicuous terrestrial insects. It comments on how approaches to Lepidoptera conservation differ between regions and land use types, and stresses the importance of adopting a landscape scale allied to a resource-based view, both for single-species and for biotope/community conservation.
... Although the pattern of species richness was not initially considered as our aim, the occurrence of relatively abundant but species-poor assemblages in the studied landscape deserve attention, as it probably helps to explain our uncovered patterns relative to assemblage resilience, successional trajectory and community organization. In terms of recovery/resilience of fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages, some studies indicate high similarity of community-level attributes between secondary and old-growth forests, indicating high resilience (Sáfián et al. 2011;Nyafwono et al. 2014;Sant'Anna et al. 2014). Others highlight contrasting scores, including lower (Barlow et al. 2007) or higher Table 1 Results of the generalized linear models (GLMs) exhibiting the effects of biomass (BIO), chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) and tree species richness on abundance, total species richness ( 0 D), common species ( 1 D) and dominant species ( 2 D) of fruit-feeding butterflies in the Catimbau National Park, in Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil Model-averaged parameter estimates (β), unconditional variance (UV), the importance of variables and the goodness-of-fit of each complete model (R 2 ) (i.e. the percentage of deviance explained by each complete model) of information-theoretic-based model selection and multi model inference. ...
... Butterfly traits: Size size of the anterior wing, Ocellus presence of ocellus, Canopy use of the canopy, Larval monocots larval feeding on monocotyledon plants species richness in secondary as compared to old-growth forest (Bobo et al. 2006). Overall, fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages have been found to recover after more than 50 years of land abandonment or reforestation (Sáfián et al. 2011;Sant'Anna et al. 2014;Oloya et al. 2021). Our findings suggest the possibility of a faster recovery (i.e. a 4-year-old forest stand similar to average old-growth forest) for some attributes (e.g. ...
Interest in forest regeneration has increased as secondary forests in regeneration process are cited as the forests of the future. However, remaining forests are subjected to chronic anthropogenic disturbances, which may reorganize tropical biodiversity. This paper investigates the recovery of fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages following slash-and-burn agriculture in the Caatinga dry forest, assessing the roles that chronic disturbances, tree species richness and biomass play in their taxonomic and functional recovery during secondary succession. Butterflies were recorded monthly across old-growth forest stands and areas previously subjected to slash-and-burn agriculture, and with differing times since abandonment. While there was a high degree of similarity in community-level attributes among regenerating forests of different ages, secondary and old-growth forests supported relatively distinct assemblages, both taxonomically and functionally. As expected, chronic disturbance, forest biomass and trees species richness were excellent predictors of taxonomic and functional changes. Specifically, large-bodied and canopy-inhabiting butterflies reached higher abundances in more disturbed habitats, while those ocellus-bearing species that fly in the understory and feed on monocot as larvae responded negatively to disturbance, but benefited from increased forest biomass and tree species richness. Our findings suggest that although regenerating secondary forests can recover values of community-level attributes of fruit-feeding butterflies similar to those of old-growth forests, chronic anthropogenic disturbances across the landscape may be selecting only specific ecological groups that are tolerant to adverse conditions.
Implications for insect conservation
Chronic disturbance can taxonomically and functionally alter butterfly assemblages across forest regeneration and consequently impact their ecological functions.
... The mobility of individual butterfly species may confound the species richness of individual land-use types because species can use multiple landscape elements (Ghazoul, 2002). In particular, strong fliers such as the forest species of genus Charaxes (Henning, 1989) have the ability to explore disturbed habitat (Sáfián et al., 2011), and we also found them in rice paddies and herbaceous fallows. This behaviour has also been observed for strong fliers in other human-modified landscapes (Sambhu et al., 2017). ...
... Many species need a range of resources depending on their lifecycles and landscape heterogeneity can increase resource availability (Bonebrake et al., 2010;Tiple et al., 2011). Our study sites are located in a heterogeneous and largely extensively managed small-scale agricultural landscape with recent forest fragmentation (Vieilledent et al., 2018), which can result in high biodiversity (Marín et al., 2009;Sáfián et al., 2011). ...
1. The conversion of tropical forests into agriculture reduces biodiversity dramatically. However, species might differ in their responses, depending on their habitat specialisation and geographic origin. In this study, we assess how butterfly assemblages differ between old-growth forests, forest fragments, forest-derived vanilla agroforests, fallow-derived vanilla agroforests, woody fallows, herbaceous fallows, and rice paddies in Madagascar.
2. We recorded 88 butterfly species, of which 65 species are endemic to Madagascar. Land-use types with woody vegetation sustained many endemic (mean: 6.8 species) and forest butterfly species (mean: 4.8 species). Rice paddies and herbaceous fallows were richer in open-land species (mean: 7.6 species) and poorer in forest species (mean: 1.7 species) compared to other land-use types. Compared to herbaceous fallows, fallow-derived vanilla agroforests hosted more endemic (+164%) and forest (+239%) species. Richness of open-land species in forest-derived vanilla agroforests was six times higher than in forest fragments.
3. Overall, 27% of species occurred exclusively in one land-use type and 19% of all species when old-growth forests were excluded. We found the highest number of exclusive species in forest-derived vanilla agroforests.
4. We conclude that all studied land-use types contribute to butterfly conservation in our study region. Especially the woody vegetation in forest fragments, vanilla agroforests, and woody fallows supports a high butterfly diversity and is pivotal for maintaining a broad diversity of forest butterflies in the agricultural matrix. Our study highlights the importance of preserving the diversity of small-scale land-use types, including agroforestry, forests and fallow land in this tropical biodiversity hotspot.
... Along with diversity, community composition of fruit-feeding butterflies can become significantly altered in secondary forests compared to primary forests (Barlow et al., 2007a;Ribeiro and Freitas, 2012;Nyafwono et al., 2014). However, in Ghana, a previous study by Sáfián et al. (2011) showed that fruit-feeding butterfly communities can recover in 50-60 years. Attention should also be paid to seasonal variation in community compositions, which could differ in primary and secondary forests (Wagner, 2001;Hamer et al., 2005;Barlow et al., 2007a). ...
... The communities of the 72-year old compartment already closely resemble those found in primary forest. In a previous study in Ghana, fruit-feeding butterfly communities were estimated to recover in 50-60 years (Sáfián et al., 2011). The findings demonstrate that the recovery times of butterflies in tropical forests after Fig. 4. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination of fruitfeeding butterfly communities in Budongo, Uganda (Bray-Curtis similarity; stress 0.12). ...
Understanding of how biodiversity can recover after anthropogenic disturbances, such as selective logging, is important for planning conservation strategies for tropical forests and for more sustainable timber harvest re-gimes. However, the knowledge of insect community compositions in regenerating logged forests is still limited, especially in the Afrotropics. Here, we evaluated the recovery patterns of fruit-feeding butterfly communities in four different-aged secondary forest compartments and one primary forest compartment in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve, Uganda. In each compartment, butterflies were sampled monthly for five consecutive months in 2017 using traps baited with fermented bananas. A total of 3,778 individuals, representing 82 species (78 identified at the species level and four morphogroups) were recorded. The fruit-feeding butterfly community composition differed among forest compartments and study months. Fruit-feeding butterfly communities of the oldest 72-year-old secondary forest compartment were similar to the primary forest compartment. In the younger secondary forest compartments the seasonal variation was large; especially the communities of the “core” rainy season months were distinct from the communities in primary and oldest secondary forest. The majority of in-dividuals captured from both primary and secondary forests represented forest-dependent species. Primary forests are irreplaceable for preserving the diversity of tropical forests in the long-term. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates that selective logging can allow fruit-feeding butterfly community composition to recover if enough time (>70 years) is allowed for recovery.
... The sampling of fruit-feeding butterflies and moths is described in Maicher et al., (2018). Both groups were collected using Van Someren-Rydon type traps (modified IKEA PS Fångst hanging storage devices: height 75 cm, diameter 23 cm; first used by Sáfián et al., 2011) baited with ca 0.3 l of fermented mashed bananas. Within each sampling locality, 16 plots (radius of 20 m; i.e., 9.68 ha covered by all 48 plots) were established in forest habitats, with a minimal distance of 150 m between them. ...
... Within each of the seven elevations, 16 forest plots were established, minimally 150 m apart from each other. At each plot, five bait traps were installed (modified IKEA PS Fångst: height 75 cm, diameter 23 cm; first used by Sáfián et al., 2011), and baited with fermented mashed bananas. Four traps were installed in the understorey layer, as close to the ground as possible, and one trap was hung up into the canopy at 20(±5) m height. ...
Biodiversity patterns of butterflies and moths are investigated on the southwestern slope of Mount Cameroon, the only continuous elevational gradient of near-pristine forests in the Afrotropics. Three distinct seasons between 2014 and 2017 are sampled by two standardised methodologies (i.e., bait-trapping and manual catching of selected groups of moths at light). First, the effects of seasonality and forest habitat associations on butterflies and moths are investigated in the lowland rainforest. Then, the impacts of elephant-made natural disturbances on tree, butterfly, and moth diversities at mid-elevations is evaluated. The thesis also includes faunistic records of species never reported from the area, combining them with life history notes on selected taxa and species description of nine new species of Alucita. Finally, the last chapter focuses on the biodiversity of birds, trees, and butterflies in the last large patch of coastal forest of the studied area, and discusses its current conservation status.
... It has been confirmed by many researchers that the degraded habitat will mostly affect the composition of butterfly community. Barlow et al. (2007Barlow et al. ( , 2008, Akite (2008), and Sáfián et al. (2011) stated that there was the decrease trend of species diversity in the climactic habitat compared to that in the degraded habitat such as secondary forest, plantation and other degraded habitats. ...
... It has been widely noted that the climactic forest habitat possesses the high number of species compared to the degraded habitat (Barlow et al. 2007;Akite 2008;Sáfián et al. 2011). However, for another habitat categories under the climactic forest habitat, they did not mostly have the same significant gradation level of degradation habitat as those commonly happened. ...
The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of degradation and fragmentation habitats to butterfly communities. To be specific, species diversity, taxonomy structure, main species in every study sites were observed to find out the effects and correlation of each parameters. Field study was carried out in 8 sites in Kotawaringin Barat, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The specimens were collected using aerial insect nets and baited traps in January-February 2016. From the result of the study, the total of 1085 individual in 130 species was successfully collected. Based on distribution analysis using Shannon-Wiener index, the diversity of butterfly was in the range of middle to high categories (H’ = 2.7-3.5). Of another parameter analysis, it showed that butterfly communities were affected by degradation habitat, while fragmentation habitat did not influence to the butterfly communities. Furthermore, the range of degradation level in the study sites did not correlate with the number of species and taxonomy structures, but the distribution of the special-group of main species showed in correlation. Lexias dirtea was only found in dense forests (site S-7), then Neptis hylas and Parantica agleoides appeared in shrub habitat (site S-5 and S-6). The finding indicated that green patches have valuable contribution to conserve the ecosystem as valuable germplasm for butterflies and also arthropods. © 2017, Society for Indonesian Biodiversity. All rights reserved.
... Cameroon and in the Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest on the coast (see Table 1 for sampling area coordinates). At each elevation, five traps (modified IKEA PS Fångst hanging storage, height 85 cm, diameter 30 cm; first modified and used by Sáfián et al., 2011) were exposed in each of the sixteen 50 m plots (i.e., 80 traps per elevation). Within each plot, four traps were installed in the understory, with the entrance placed as close to the ground as possible, and one trap in the canopy layer about 20 m (±5 m) above the ground. ...
... The first results of our study also reveal a high potential of using fruit-baited net traps for sampling of fruit-feeding moths. These traps are quite often used for various studies of butterflies (e.g., Sáfián et al., 2011;Aduse-Poku et al., 2012;Van Swaay et al., 2015), but the captured moths are generally ignored. Following the initial results of our sampling, we appeal to lepidopterists studying fruit-feeding butterflies to pay more attention to captured moths. ...
During our surveys of fruit-feeding Lepidoptera at the Mount Cameroon National
Park and the Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (both southwestern Cameroon) we recorded
nineteen species of Erebidae moths not previously reported from Cameroon. Simultaneously, we provide
the first records of genera Ametropalpis and Lacera from the country.
... Therefore, future studies will be needed, to assess the long-term success of the restoration project and also to focus on ecosystem goods and services and benefits to society (Le et al., 2012). In previous studies, recovery times during tropical forest regeneration have been estimated to vary between 20 and 40 years for most tropical organisms (Dunn, 2004), between 50 and 60 years for fruit-feeding butterflies during natural succession in Ghana (Sáfián et al., 2011) and >40 years for lepidopteran larval assemblages in logged forest compartments in Kibale National Park (Savilaakso et al., 2009a). These studies indicate that the time required for insect communities to recover after forest disturbance depends on the taxon, severity of disturbance, geographical region and relative spatial isolation from primary forest sites. ...
... The majority of primary forest indicators belonged to the genera Euphaedra, Bicyclus and Charaxes. In Ghana (Sáfián et al., 2011), Ivory Cost (Fermon et al., 2000), Uganda (Nyafwono et al., 2014) and generally tropical Africa (Larsen, 2005), the genus Euphaedra is known to be a good indicator of undisturbed primary forests, Euphaedra christyi being endemic to Uganda (Sáfián et al., 2009). Most members from the genus Bicyclus are rainforest species, with some exceptions in savannah habitats (Larsen, 1996) and farmlands (Munyuli, 2012). ...
There is scarcity of information pertaining to insect colonisation during forest restoration in the tropics. We investigated the pattern and timescale of butterfly recovery along a gradient of forest restoration in an Afro-tropical moist forest in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The restoration forests ranged from 3 to 16 years of age. We placed five traps in each of the eight forests along the restoration gradient and sampled butterflies for three days monthly for 12 months, beginning in May 2011. We (1) tested for the directional pattern in butterfly species richness, abundance, diversity, dominance and community composition from the youngest restoration to primary forests, (2) assessed the temporal and spatial patterns in butterfly community composition along the restoration gradient, (3) assessed the change in similarity between restoration and primary forests along the gradient, to estimate the time needed for recovery, and (4) determined specialist species characterising each forest age group. We recorded 10,092 individuals, representing 79 species. Butterfly species richness, abundance and diversity increased with age since restoration started. There was a remarkable temporal variation in butterfly community composition. The similarity of the butterfly community to that of primary forests increased linearly with time, without reaching an asymptote. We estimate that fruit-feeding butterfly communities of restored tropical forests can be similar to that of primary forests within 40 years, provided that primary forests are nearby. Our results demonstrate that tropical forest restoration aids the recovery of butterfly communities to their pre-disturbance states and probably aids biodiversity as a whole.
... Lepidopterans in Mediterranean forest showed significant differences in their assemblage after two years of fire, as disturbance event (Elia et al., 2012). In tropical forests from Ghana, butterflies regenerated their community composition as the forest gained structural diversity within 50 to 60 years, with very low densities in clear-cut areas (Sáfián, Csontos, & Winkler, 2011). ...
... This finding strengthens the statements of many researchers, e.g. Cleary [15], Barlow et al. [21,22], Akite [23], Sáfián et al. [24], Harmonis [14] and Harmonis & Saud [18], which revealed the potential of butterflies to be bioindicators. Advances in Biological Sciences Research, volume 11 ...
... The sampling of fruit-feeding butterflies and moths (i.e., species with adults feeding on fruits) represented a total of 7,200 trap-days. Both groups were collected using Van Someren-Rydon type traps (modified IKEA PS Fångst hanging storage devices: height 75 cm, diameter 23 cm; first used by Sáfián et al., 2011) baited with ca 0.3 L of fermented mashed bananas. Within each of 48 sampling plots (see above), five traps were installed (i.e., 80 traps per locality, representing 240 traps altogether): four were exposed in the understory as close to the ground as possible, and one was set in the canopy at 20 (±5) m height. ...
Mechanisms structuring tropical communities are still under‐studied, especially in Afrotropical rainforests. Although insect herbivores are considered to depend on plant diversity, we hypothesized that vegetation structure, together with other microhabitat characteristics, can be more important for some insects. Here, we compared habitat associations of fruit‐feeding butterflies and moths, two ecologically different groups of Lepidoptera, in three rainforest localities in foothills of Mount Cameroon, West/Central Africa. Based on a comprehensive dataset of 16,040 specimens of 398 species systematically collected by 240 traps at 48 plots (altogether 9.68 ha), we analyzed how plant community composition, habitat openness, and forest structure affect communities of butterflies and moths. We expected different habitat descriptors to predict communities of the two insect groups. Habitats of tropical fruit‐feeding moth communities have never been studied before.
In both analyses of species richness and community structure, butterfly communities depended mostly on forest openness. Moth species richness depended on plant diversity and forest openness, whilst the latter substantially influenced their community composition. Additionally, we revealed differences in habitat associations between understory and canopy communities of both groups. Whilst species richness of understory communities was not influenced by any habitat characteristics, it generally followed the general patterns in canopies. By contrast, composition of understory communities followed the general patterns, whilst effects of habitat characteristics on canopy communities were minor for butterflies and none for moths. The differences between such closely related groups of herbivorous insects warn against generalization based on single‐taxon studies and highlight the need of community‐wide research of tropical rainforests.
Abstract in French is available with online material
... The costs for trap construction and bait preparation can vary among regions and availability of the needed materials. Van Swaay et al. (2015) estimate a cost of US$10 to US$20 per trap, while cheaper options can be built modifying the standard trap (Shuey 1997;Sáfián et al. 2010;DeVries et al. 2016). There are several different models of bait traps, the most used being the Van Someren-Rydon traps (VSR) or variations of this (several other types of bait traps have been proposed; see Freitas et al. 2014). ...
Butterflies (Lepidoptera) are one of the most well-known groups of diurnal insects. The present chapter provides a review of the main sampling methods for butterfly ecology and systematic studies, with a focus on adult butterflies. Sampling is here divided into two main categories: (1) active sampling, when collecting effort is dependent on the sampler, and (2) passive sampling, usually using a trap (baited or not), where collecting success is independent of a sampler. In addition, this chapter includes guidelines for the preparation, maintenance, and identification of collected material and discusses important issues for data collection and management, providing general recommendations for organizing and structuring butterfly sampling data. In sum, this chapter provides information to support well-designed and standardized studies that are essential to increase conservation efforts.
... Lepidopterans in Mediterranean forest showed significant differences in their assemblage after two years of fire, as disturbance event (Elia et al., 2012). In tropical forests from Ghana, butterflies regenerated their community composition as the forest gained structural diversity within 50 to 60 years, with very low densities in clear-cut areas (Sáfián, Csontos, & Winkler, 2011). ...
The invertebrates are the most diverse group in the world; they colonize almost all the ecosystems and certainly give many goods and services to the human beings. The invertebrates that live in the soil contribute consistently with changes in the ecosystemic functions, affecting directly: nutrients, cycle, change in biomass contain ecological nets and inter specific relations for more voluminous organisms. For this exercise were taken the information of the six more representative magazines (2010-2016). The invertebrates in the tropics are maybe the most diverse group, although in the checking stage carried out only 64% represented tropical zones or subtropical exclusively, the rest is a comparison with temperate zones or global studious. Because of its diversity, many invertebrates are waiting for their taxonomical descriptions; many specialists are not from tropical countries. Brazil is the country with more investigations about this theme with its own investigators. No all the invertebrates have received the same attention, and the most studied groups are the orders Hymenoptera (20%), Coleopteran (12%) and Araneae (6%), many families without identification (25%), distinguishing studious in Fomicidae (24%) and Scarabaeinae (8%) mainly. The tendency is to work with those that are better described. The articles selected constitute a key for identifying the most useable methodologies, where the fall trap (30%), quadrant (11%) and transecto (9%), are remarkable over 24 methodologies, the most widespread time of studious was for only one season (< 1 year) the central point of the search in the soil (40%) and the fallen leaves (38%).
... The traps were set at 1-2 m height. Additionally, 20 modified IKEA FÅNGST type traps were used set in the lower canopy between 5-10 m height as described in Sáfián et al. (2010), also in Maicher et al. (2018). ...
We present records of further 87 butterfly species to the checklist of Mpanga Forest, Mpigi, Uganda, increasing the number of known species to 401. Over half of all newly recorded butterflies are skippers (Hesperiidae), also, a significant proportion of the new records pertain to species which tend to occur in more open habitats and forest-edges, also swampy areas or wetlands. Our records represent the easternmost occurrences of Procampta admiratio (Hesperiidae), Bicyclus rhacotis (Nymphalidae), Pentila alba and Iolaus schultzei (Lycaenidae) with significant range extensions. The still increasing number of species further emphasizes the conservation importance of the remaining small fragments of the once extensive Lake Victoria outlier forest, which almost disappeared from shores of the lake between the Kenyan and Tanzanian border. The pressure from the steeply increasing human population and apparent lack of actual protection measures threatens the Mpanga forest ecosystem and its butterfly fauna, despite its educational and unique eco-tourism potential.
... For example, researchers have examined how plant community composition and assembly are affected by the number of plant species introduced, sowing densities, the temporal and spatial patterns of planting, disturbance regimes, disease, 1 3 and landscape context (Malmstrom et al. 2005(Malmstrom et al. , 2009Foster et al. 2007;Brudvig 2011;Baer et al. 2016; Barr et al. 2016). In contrast, studies of animal dynamics in restorations are fewer and many have focused on a subset of species highly valued by humans, such as mammals (e.g., Stone 2007), birds (e.g., Lindell et al. 2013), and insect pollinators (butterflies, bees) (e.g., Safian et al. 2011;Harmon-Threatt and Hendrix 2015;Denning and Foster 2018a). Despite their great diversity and ecological importance, most insect groups (other than pollinators) have received less attention. ...
Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) form a large, diverse insect family that contributes significantly to trophic interactions and pathogen transmission in grasslands. We compared leafhopper communities of five remnant prairies and five prairie reconstructions in northeastern Kansas, USA. We hypothesized that leafhopper communities would be more conservative (i.e., greater dependence on prairies) and diverse on remnant as compared to reconstructed prairies, and that remnants would support more grass-feeders. We also predicted that sites surrounded by natural/semi-natural landscapes would have greater leafhopper diversity. We found grass feeders represented a higher proportion of leafhoppers on remnants. We found, however, no difference in mean conservatism between remnants and reconstructions, and overall levels of conservatism were lower than other grassland data sets. Mean conservatism was greater in the mid-summer than in early summer, where migratory pests such as Macrosteles were abundant. Although remnants and reconstructed prairies didn’t differ in leafhopper diversity, diversity increased with forb percent cover. The amount of natural and semi-natural land cover around sites had complex relationships with leafhopper diversity and composition. For future studies, we encourage coordinated studies on leafhopper communities across the tallgrass prairie region, with a particular focus on conservatism. Deciphering the effect of survey times, and grassland size and management, on prairie-dependent leafhoppers is important. We predict that large numbers of migratory species may lead to greater homogeneity in leafhopper communities across sites early in the season. Over time, site types and landscape features may progressively filter species and amplify local specialists, resulting in more late-season variation among sites.
... Lepidopterans in Mediterranean forest showed significant differences in their assemblage after two years of fire, as disturbance event (Elia et al., 2012). In tropical forests from Ghana, butterflies regenerated their community composition as the forest gained structural diversity within 50 to 60 years, with very low densities in clear-cut areas (Sáfián, Csontos, & Winkler, 2011). ...
Los invertebrados son el grupo más diverso en el mundo, ellos colonizan casi todos los ecosistemas y ciertamente proveen de muchos bienes y servicios a los humanos. Los invertebrados que viven en el suelo contribuyen consistentemente a cambios en las funciones ecosistémicas, afectando directamente: ciclaje de nutrientes, cambios en contenido de biomasa, redes ecológicas y relaciones interespecíficas para organismos más voluminosos. Para este ejercicio se tomaron los datos de las seis revistas más representativas (2010-2016). Los invertebrados en los trópicos son talvez el grupo más diverso; aunque en la revisión realizada solo el 64% representó zonas tropicales o subtropicales exclusivamente, siendo el restante una comparación con zonas temperadas o estudios globales. Debido a su diversidad, muchos aún se encuentran a la espera de descripciones taxonómicas, siendo varios de los especialistas oriundos de países no tropicales y teniendo a Brasil como el país que más investigación realiza en este tema con investigadores propios. No todos los invertebrados han recibido la misma atención, y los grupos más estudiados son los ódenes Hymenoptera (20%), Coleoptera (12%) y Araneae (6%); varias familias sin identificación (25%), particularizando estudios en Formicidae (24%) y Scarabaeinae (8%) principalmente. La tendencia es trabajar con aquellos que se encuentran mejor descritos. Los artículos escogidos constituyen una clave para identificar las metodologías más utilizadas, donde las trampas de caída (30%), cuadrantes (11%) y transectos (9%) se destacan sobre otras 24 metodologías. El tiempo de estudio más generalizado se lo hace por una sola estación (<1 año), centrándose la búsqueda de invertebrados en el suelo (40%) y la hojarasca (38%).
... Within each of the three sites, fruit-feeding lepidopterans were sampled in 16 circular plots placed in continuous forest or larger forest patches with a minimum distance of 150 m between each other (the same plots as in Ferenc et al., 2016). Within each plot (20 m radius), five Van Someren-Rydon type traps were exposed (modified IKEA PS Fångst hanging storage devices: height 75 cm, diameter 23 cm; first used by Sáfián, Csontos, & Winkler, 2011). Of these, four understory traps were installed as close to the ground as possible, and one canopy trap was set at a 20(±5) m height. ...
Although seasonality in the tropics is often less pronounced than in temperate areas, tropical ecosystems show seasonal dynamics as well. Nevertheless, individual tropical insects’ phenological patterns are still poorly understood, especially in the Afrotropics. To fill this gap, we investigated biodiversity patterns of Lepidoptera communities at three rainforest localities in the foothills of Mount Cameroon, West Africa, one of the wettest places in the world. Our multitaxa approach covered six lepidopteran groups (fruit‐feeding butterflies and moths, the families Sphingidae, Saturniidae, and Eupterotidae, and the subfamily Arctiinae of Erebidae) with diverse life strategies. We sampled adults of the focal groups in three distinct seasons. Our sampling included standardized bait trapping (80 traps exposed for 10 days per locality and season) and attraction by light (six full nights per locality and season). Altogether, our dataset comprised 20,576 specimens belonging to 559 (morpho)species of the focal groups. The biodiversity of Lepidoptera generally increased in the high‐dry season, and either increased (fruit‐feeding moths, Arctiinae, Saturniidae) or decreased (butterflies, Sphingidae) in the transition to the wet season in particular groups. Simultaneously, we revealed a strong species turnover of fruit‐feeding Lepidoptera and Arctiinae among the seasons, indicating relatively high specialization of these communities for particular seasons. Such temporal specialization can make the local communities of butterflies and moths especially sensitive to the expected seasonal perturbations caused by the global change. Because of the key role of Lepidoptera across trophic levels, such changes in their communities could strengthen this impact on entire tropical ecosystems.
... A guilda de borboletas frugívoras compreende entre 40 e 55% das espécies de Nymphalidae (DE VRIES & WALLA, 2001) e utiliza frutas em decomposição, excrementos de animais e seiva como recurso alimentar dos adultos (DE VRIES, 1987). Essas borboletas são atraídas e amostradas com armadilhas com iscas (FREITAS et al., 2003) e tem sido utilizadas em estudos ecológicos para avaliação de efeito de borda, estratificação de florestas e fragmentação ou perda de habitat, principalmente em áreas tropicais (FERMON et al., 2000(FERMON et al., , 2003UEHARA-PRADO et al., 2005;BOSSART & OPUNI-FRIMPONG, 2009;MARÍN et al., 2009;SAFIÁN et al., 2011;RIBEIRO et al., 2008;, no entanto, em regiões subtropicais as informações ainda são precárias. ...
Fragmentation and habitat loss caused by human activities are the main threats to biodiversity. In Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), mainly in the Pampa biome in the southern part the growing demand for production and consequent expansion of agriculture and forestry activities plus the lack of Conservation Unit, increases its vulnerability. Fruit-feeding butterflies can be sampled with bait traps and represent good tools for environmental monitoring. This study aims to provide a list of fruit-feeding butterfly species of midwestern RS. Butterflies were sampled bimonthly from January 2010 to December 2011 in the municipalities of Jaguari, Sao Francisco de Assis and Sao Vicente do Sul. After 2160 trap/days, 3288 individuals, belonging to 44 species and subspecies of Nymphalidae, were recorded. Satyrinae showed the greatest number of species (57%), followed by Biblidinae (23%), Charaxinae (18%) and Nymphalinae (2%). Narope panniculus Stichel, 1904 is a new record for Rio Grande do Sul. Manataria hercyna (Hirbner, [18211) is considered rare and an indicator of a well preserved environment. This study demonstrated that the Pampa biome harbors a rich and peculiar fauna of fruit-feeding butterflies that deserves to be preserved. It is important to create incentives for sustainable land use and public policies aiming towards biodiversity conservation to ensure the survival of species and their environments, especially in areas that are not legally protected.
... Recent reviews of global Lepidoptera conservation have tended to focus on the developed nations (Pullin 1995;Dover et al. 2009;New 2012New , 2014Merckx et al. 2013). Despite a paucity of publications in indexed journals or books on the conservation of the African butterfly fauna (but see Larsen 1995;Sáfián et al. 2011;Ball 2012;Samways et al. 2012), over the last 20 years, enormous strides have been made towards the conservation of the southern African butterflies. ...
The origins and development of butterfly conservation in southern Africa are explored and the role of the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa (LSA) in the promotion of butterfly conservation and research is described. LSA members have produced several Red Lists for South African butterflies. The Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment project, a joint venture between LSA, the Animal Demography Unit (ADU—University of Cape Town) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute was launched in 2007. This has resulted in a comprehensive and accurate distributional database and rigorous conservation assessments using the IUCN (2010) Red Listing categories and criteria for the 794 butterfly taxa assessed. LSA’s Custodians of Rare and Endangered Lepidoptera programme aims to conserve all the threatened species, prioritising the Critically Endangered category. Moving beyond species-based conservation, habitat and landscape conservation are now key conservation strategies which focus on vegetation types and butterfly biodiversity hotspots. LSA (in partnership with ADU) has also recently launched the LepiMAP project, an online photographic geo-referenced database which will develop a butterfly and moth atlas for the whole of Africa, as part of a continent-wide conservation effort. Another important project which the LSA recently launched is the Caterpillar Rearing Group, for documenting the life histories of all Lepidoptera in the Afrotropical region.
... Indeed, many studies have estimated the effects of forest fragmentation, degradation due to selective logging, and deforestation on arthropod diversity in the tropics (e.g., Willott 1999;Vasconcelos et al. 2000;Willott et al. 2000;Davis et al. 2001;Shahabuddin et al. 2005; Barlow et al. 2007;Chazdon et al. 2009;Hawes et al. 2009;Hayes et al. 2009;Maeto et al. 2009;Berry et al. 2010;Woodcock et al. 2011). However, to date there is still a paucity of information on how arthropod diversity changes during the recovery process of forests-from the deforested status, to secondary, to primary-particularly in Southeast Asia compared with other tropical regions (e.g., Stork et al. 2003;Florens et al. 2010;Safian et al. 2011; but see Beck et al. 2002). ...
In contrast to the large number of studies addressing the effects of deforestation on insect diversity, few studies have focused on the recovery of diversity during forest restoration. In this study, we investigated the recovery, or chronosequential change, of butterfly species richness during forest restoration after cessation of swidden cultivation in a humid tropical rainforest region in Borneo. Through conducting censuses on butterflies at 21 study plots, placed at open habitats adjoining edges of forest stands that differed in elapsed years after cessation (
... Similar results showing replacement of species from open/disturbed habitats by forest species along restoration timelines have been shown for rainforest beetles and butterflies (Grimbacher & Catterall 2007;Sáfián et al. 2011). On the other hand, in open habitat (e.g. ...
Currently, a large-scale restoration project aims to restore around 15 million hectares of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. This will increase forest cover and connectivity among remnant sites as well as restore environmental services. Currently, studies on recovery of fauna in restored areas of the Atlantic Forest are practically nonexistent. To address this knowledge vacuum, our study compares diversity patterns of fruit-feeding butterflies in three forest areas with different restoration ages (11, 22, and 54 years), and uses a native forest area as reference. Results showed butterfly communities in maturing restored areas becoming more similar to the ones found in the native forest, with an increase in the proportional abundance of forest species, and a decrease of edge and grassland species. Moreover, we found a higher diversity among sites at the intermediate restoration age, with a community composed of both grassland and forest species. Butterfly species composition differed significantly among sites, showing interesting patterns of potential species replacement over time. Our results indicate that, although restored sites were located in a fragmented landscape, they provide suitable habitats for recolonization by fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages. Hence, restored areas can be considered important habitat for forest animal species, increasing local biodiversity and, possibly, restoring some of the ecosystem services provided by them.
... Evidence presented at the Symposium from across the world was bleak, with no evidence that the EU and CBD target had been met (Asher et al. 2011;Brereton et al. 2011;Caritg et al. 2011;Fox et al. 2011;Groenendijk and Ellis 2011;Lewis and Senior 2011;Nakamura 2011;Sáfián et al. 2011;Stefanescu et al. 2011). At the global scale the general trend for Lepidoptera is one of decline, and the overall trend for biodiversity is of a continuous and accelerating decline. ...
The West African region incredibly possesses butterfly diversity that is among the most biologically diverse in the world. This is perhaps because of its location in the Guinea-Congolian biodiversity hotspot. There are over 1500 butterfly species recognized in West Africa, with many awaiting identifications. Yet the most threatened region on the continent due to alarming rates of population growth, deforestation, urbanisation, and land-use changes. These factors are known to drive changes in butterfly population dynamics and composition. Nonetheless, the West African region is among the so under-studied in terms of biodiversity, particularly butterflies. This paper reviews the status of butterflies and conservation in West Africa. Butterfly farming, butterfly tourism and photography, and research have been discussed as potential ways through which butterfly fauna can be harnessed to generate revenue to conserve butterfly and forest ecosystems, while likewise adding to supporting local livelihoods and development. Finally, the paper highlighted the formation of the Lepidopterists Society (Lepsoc) West Africa section, a crucial way forward to advancing butterfly conservation citizen science in the region. It is hoped that the butterfly citizen science in West Africa would inexorably lead to a massive paradigm shift, butterfly awareness raising, and conservation among the West African inhabitants.
A study of butterfly species diversity was conducted in Chemerong Amenity Forest, Terengganu, Malaysia. A total of 939 individuals from 198 butterfly species were obtained using fruit-baited sweep nets and modified VanSomeren-Rydon cylinder traps. The biodiversity of butterflies in the study area was considered high, with a Shannon index (H’) of 4.1, Simpson’s index (DSimpson) of 0.042, and Margalef index (IMargalef) of 28.78. Individuals within the community were not evenly distributed among the species (EShannon= 0776). Nymphalidae was found to be the most dominant family (48.5%), and Lexias dirtea merguia was the most abundant species recorded with 114 individuals (12%). From the total of eight species protected under Malaysia legislation, one species Trogonoptera brookiana was also listed under CITES Appendix II, while only one protected species Agatasa calydonia calydonia of the family Nymphalidae (the brush-footed or four-footed) was considered rare. Other rare species found in this study included Arhopala lucida, Curetis saronis sumatrana, Miletus nymphis fictus of the family Lycaenidae (the blues, coppers, & hairstreaks), Amathusia perakana perakana, Bassarona teuta goodrichi, Elymnias saueri saueri, Elymnias nesaea, Mycalesis horsfieldi hermana, Mycalesis distanti, Ypthima pandocus tahanensis of the family Nymphalidae (the brush-footed or four-footed), Celaenorrhinus ladana, Erionota sybirita, Matapa aria, Matapa cresta, Matapa druna, Pseudokerana fulger, Taractrocera ardonia, Taractrocera luzonensis, Telicota linna, and Unkana mytheca mytheca of the family Hesperiidae (the skippers). The dominance of family Nymphalidae may be due to several factors, including high species diversity, widespread distribution and occurrence, as well as the type of bait used in this study. Besides the Genting Highlands and Taman Negara Johor Endau Rompin, butterfly species at Chemerong Amenity Forest are more diverse than other study sites in Malaysia such as Gunung Serambu, Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve, Setiu Wetlands, Kuala Lompat, Bukit Hampuan Forest Reserve, Sungai Imbak Forest Reserve, Tabin Wildlife Reserve, and Ulu Senagang Substation. Further investigation of aspects such as stratification distribution patterns, host plants and forest dwelling species are recommended for better understanding of butterfly communities in the Chemerong Amenity Forest.
Aim
Although biodiversity is in sharp decline around the globe, collectiing precise information on changes in overall species richness remains extremely challenging. Efficient and reliable proxy methods are therefore needed, with the diversity of higher taxa representing one such potential proxy for species‐level diversity. Nonetheless, the stability of using this measure across different regions and animal taxa at the global scale has never been investigated thoroughly.
Location
Global.
Time period
Up to 2016.
Major taxa studied
Animalia.
Methods
We used a large global dataset containing published studies on diversity in the terrestrial Animalia to analyse the relationship between diversity at the family, genus and species level across different orders.
Results
Family and species diversity were positively correlated, with the strongest correlations in Diptera, Hemiptera and Coleoptera. Correlations were slightly weaker in family–species than in genus–species relationships, whereas differences were stronger in observed richness than in diversity indices. Across all taxa, family–species correlations of Shannon diversity index values were independent of sample size, and they showed limited variation across biomes for the three orders containing sufficient case studies for this analysis. Based on the Shannon diversity index, the species diversity per site increased linearly with the increase in family diversity, with an average species : family diversity index ratio of 2.5, slightly lower than the ratio of 2.7 for observed species and family richness values.
Main conclusions
Our study confirmed that recording family‐level diversity can be a meaningful proxy for determining species‐level diversity patterns in biodiversity studies, and trade‐offs between identification costs and retained information content need to be considered when using higher taxon surrogacy.
Aim
Temporal dynamics of biodiversity along tropical elevational gradients are unknown. We studied seasonal changes of Lepidoptera biodiversity along the only complete forest elevational gradient in the Afrotropics. We focused on shifts of species richness patterns, seasonal turnover of communities and seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges, the latter often serving as an indicator of the global change effects on mountain ecosystems.
Location
Mount Cameroon, Cameroon.
Taxon
Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera).
Methods
We quantitatively sampled nine groups of Lepidoptera by bait‐trapping (16,800 trap‐days) and light‐catching (126 nights) at seven elevations evenly distributed along the elevational gradient from sea level (30 m a.s.l.) to timberline (2,200 m a.s.l.). Sampling was repeated in three seasons.
Results
Altogether, 42,936 specimens of 1,099 species were recorded. A mid‐elevation peak of species richness was detected for all groups but Eupterotidae. This peak shifted seasonally for five groups, most of them ascending during the dry season. Seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges were mostly responsible for these diversity pattern shifts along elevation: we found general upward shifts in fruit‐feeding butterflies, fruit‐feeding moths and Lymantriinae from beginning to end of the dry season. Contrarily, Arctiinae shifted upwards during the wet season. The average seasonal shifts of elevational ranges often exceeded 100 m and were even several times higher for numerous species.
Main conclusions
We report seasonal uphill and downhill shifts of several lepidopteran groups. The reported shifts can be driven by both delay in weather seasonality and shifts in resource availability, causing phenological delay of adult hatching and/or adult migrations. Such shifts may lead to misinterpretations of diversity patterns along elevation if seasonality is ignored. More importantly, considering the surprising extent of seasonal elevational shifts of species, we encourage taking account of such natural temporal dynamics while investigating the global climate change impact on communities of Lepidoptera in tropical mountains.
A dataset of 3,250,404 measurements, collated from 26,114 sampling locations in 94 countries and representing 47,044 species. The data were collated from 480 existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database was assembled as part of the PREDICTS project - Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems; www.predicts.org.uk.
The taxonomic identifications provided in the original data sets are those determined at the time of the original research, and so will not reflect subsequent taxonomic changes.
This dataset is described in 10.1002/ece3.2579. A description of the way that this dataset was assembled is given in 10.1002/ece3.1303.
columns.csv: Description of data extract columns
database.zip: Database in zipped CSV format
database.rds: Database in RDS format
sites.zip: Site-level summaries in compressed CSV format
sites.rds: Site-level summaries in RDS format
references.csv: Data references in CSV format
references.bib: Data references in BibTeX format
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.<br/
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
Crossing “safe” limits for biodiversity loss
The planetary boundaries framework attempts to set limits for biodiversity loss within which ecological function is relatively unaffected. Newbold et al. present a quantitative global analysis of the extent to which the proposed planetary boundary has been crossed (see the Perspective by Oliver). Using over 2 million records for nearly 40,000 terrestrial species, they modeled the response of biodiversity to land use and related pressures and then estimated, at a spatial resolution of ∼1 km ² , the extent and spatial patterns of changes in local biodiversity. Across 65% of the terrestrial surface, land use and related pressures have caused biotic intactness to decline beyond 10%, the proposed “safe” planetary boundary. Changes have been most pronounced in grassland biomes and biodiversity hotspots.
Science , this issue p. 288 ; see also p. 220
The management of tropical forest ecosystems is essential to the health of the planet. This book addresses forest insect pest problems across the world's tropics, addressing the pests' ecology, impact and possible approaches for their control. Fully updated, this second edition also includes discussions of new areas of interest including climate change, invasive species, forest health and plant clinics. This work is an indispensible resource for students, researchers and practitioners of forestry, ecology, pest management and entomology in tropical and subtropical countries.
Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
Human activities, especially conversion and degradation of habitats, are causing global biodiversity declines. How local ecological assemblages are responding is less clear[mdash]a concern given their importance for many ecosystem functions and services. We analysed a terrestrial assemblage database of unprecedented geographic and taxonomic coverage to quantify local biodiversity responses to land use and related changes. Here we show that in the worst-affected habitats, these pressures reduce within-sample species richness by an average of 76.5%, total abundance by 39.5% and rarefaction-based richness by 40.3%. We estimate that, globally, these pressures have already slightly reduced average within-sample richness (by 13.6%), total abundance (10.7%) and rarefaction-based richness (8.1%), with changes showing marked spatial variation. Rapid further losses are predicted under a business-as-usual land-use scenario; within-sample richness is projected to fall by a further 3.4% globally by 2100, with losse
Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing
over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than
1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
Knowledge of the recovery of insect communities after forest disturbance in tropical Africa is very limited. Here, fruit‐feeding butterflies in a tropical rain forest at Kibale National Park, Uganda, were used as a model system to uncover how, and how fast, insect communities recover after forest disturbance. We trapped butterflies monthly along a successional gradient for one year. Traps were placed in intact primary forest compartments, heavily logged forest compartments with and without arboricide treatment approximately 43 years ago, and in conifer‐clearcut compartments, ranging from 9 to 19 years of age. The species richness, total abundance, diversity, dominance, and similarity of the community composition of butterflies in the eight compartments were compared with uni‐ and multivariate statistics. A total of 16,728 individuals representing 88 species were trapped during the study. Butterfly species richness, abundance, and diversity did not show an increasing trend along the successional gradient but species richness and abundance peaked at intermediate stages. There was monthly variation in species richness, abundance, diversity and composition. Butterfly community structure differed significantly among the eight successional stages and only a marginal directional change along the successional gradient emerged. The greatest number of indicator species and intact forest interior specialists were found in one of the primary forests. Our results show that forest disturbance has a long‐term impact on the recovery of butterfly species composition, emphasizing the value of intact primary forests for butterfly conservation.
Abstract. A report on a workshop held
in 2011 covering Afrotropical Lepidoptera
research organised by the Butterfly
Conservation Society, Ghana (BCGHANA)
is given. The post-event field trip in
various localities in southern Ghana
revealed many interesting Lepidoptera
records, including 33 species of Sphingidae,
31 species of Lasiocampidae,
23 species of Zamarada (Geometridae),
and more than 200 species of Microlepidoptera,
belonging to 25 families.
This paper is the second presenting results
of BCGHANA’s long term research
project “Butterfly and Moth Inventory
and Prime Butterfly Areas in Ghana”.
Zusammenfassung. Im Jahr 2011 fand
ein Arbeitstreffen über den Stand der
Forschung zu afrikanischen Lepidopteren
statt über den hier berichtet wird.
Organisiert war die Veranstaltung von
der Butterfly Conservation Society, Ghana
(BCGHANA). Die anschließenden
Exkursionen in verschiedenen Regionen
des südlichen Ghana ergaben 33 Arten
Sphingidae, 31 Arten Lasiocampidae, 23
Arten Zamarada (Geometridae) und
mehr als 200 Arten Microlepidoptera
aus 25 Familien. Dies ist die zweite Veröffentlichung
aus BCGHANA’s langfristigen
Forschungsprojekt „Butterfly
and Moth Inventory and Prime Butterfly
Areas in Ghana“.
The continued growth of human populations and of per capita consumption have resulted in unsustainable exploitation of Earth’s
biological diversity, exacerbated by climate change, ocean acidification, and other anthropogenic environmental impacts. We
argue that effective conservation of biodiversity is essential for human survival and the maintenance of ecosystem processes.
Despite some conservation successes (especially at local scales) and increasing public and government interest in living sustainably,
biodiversity continues to decline. Moving beyond 2010, successful conservation approaches need to be reinforced and adequately
financed. In addition, however, more radical changes are required that recognize biodiversity as a global public good, that
integrate biodiversity conservation into policies and decision frameworks for resource production and consumption, and that
focus on wider institutional and societal changes to enable more effective implementation of policy.
Butterfly diversity and abundance were sampled across eight 1-ha silvicultural treatment plots in southern Cameroon. The plotsincluded a cleared and unplanted farm fallow, cleared and replanted forestplots, and uncleared forest plots. The replanted plots were line-planted withTerminalia ivorensis, but differed in the degree and methodof clearance. A total of 205 species of butterflies were collected over twodifferent seasons. Several sampling methods were used, including hand collecting andbaited canopy traps. Sites with the greatest degree of disturbance andlowest level of tree cover had the lowest number of individuals and species ofbutterflies. The farm fallow had substantially fewer individuals and species ofbutterflies than the other plots. The replanted plots were intermediate betweenthe farm fallow and uncleared forest in terms of abundance, richness andcomposition. With all three forms of multivariate analysis (Morisita similarityindex clustering, detrended correspondence analysis and two-way indicatorspecies analysis) largest differences were found between the farm fallow anduncleared forest plots. The butterfly fauna of the uncleared forest more closelyapproximated that of the manually cleared plot than that of the mechanicallycleared plot. We found that although, in general, young replanted forest plotsare a poor substitute for native forest, they do provide habitat for some forestspecies and that this may increase over time as the plots mature.
Summary Tropical countries are expandingplantationforestry to develop sustainable woodproduction systems. Much of this is based on short rotations of exotic species. These systems require large capital investments, represent intensive land use and increase the demands on the soil. To develop options for maintaining or increasing productivity a partner-project was initiated by Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) with three objectives: I) evaluate the impact ofsoil andsite managementpractices on theproductivi ty ofsuccessive rotations of plantations, 2) develop management options for maintaining or increasing productivity and 3) where it is appropriate strengthen local institutional capacity to respond to new problems and opportunities. The project focuses on the critical inter-rotational phase of management.. harvesting, site preparation, and early stand development. A core set of treatments selected to create a range of impacts on organic matter and nutrients supply intensities will be included at all locations. Optional treatments tailored to each site will be added as required by local management, and soil and stand considerations. Each location will carry out a self-contained experiment that will produce scientifically valid results on its own merit. All experiments are networked to integrate the information so underlying processes can be understood and options for science based management developed. All sites are expected to be valuable reference sites for long-term investigations.
Despite concern about the effects of tropical forest disturbance and clearance on biodiversity,, data on impacts, particularly on invertebrates, remain scarce. Here we report a taxonomically diverse inventory on the impacts of tropical forest modification at one locality. We examined a gradient from near-primary, through old-growth secondary and plantation forests to complete clearance, for eight animal groups (birds, butterflies, flying beetles, canopy beetles, canopy ants, leaf-litter ants, termites and soil nematodes) in the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve, south-central Cameroon. Although species richness generally declined with increasing disturbance, no one group serves as a good indicator taxon for changes in the species richness of other groups. Species replacement from site to site (turnover) along the gradient also differs between taxonomic groups. The proportion of `morphospecies' that cannot be assigned to named species and the number of `scientist-hours' required to process samples both increase dramatically for smaller-bodied taxa. Data from these eight groups indicate the huge scale of the biological effort required to provide inventories of tropical diversity, and to measure the impacts of tropical forest modification and clearance.
Quick surveys are often used by conservation biologists to assess biodiversity. In tropical forests, fruit-feeding butterflies are a convenient indicator group because they can be readily trapped and are comparatively easy to identify. However, studies carried out in Costa Rica and Ecuador have revealed that long-term sampling is needed to estimate biodiversity accurately. Furthermore, almost half of the biodiversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in the neotropics was found to be in the canopy. Short term sampling in the understory can, therefore, lead to inaccurate estimates of species richness and worse, to poorly informed conservation decisions. Comparable to the studies in South America, we performed a long-term trapping study of the same guild of butterflies in the understory and canopy of Kibale Forest in Uganda, to describe temporal and vertical patterns of biodiversity. We caught 32,308 individuals of 94 species over three years. About 14% of these species could be categorized as canopy specialists and 68% as understory specialists. Temporal variation was extensive and did not follow a clear seasonal pattern. This is the first study in an African forest with continuous sampling of fruit-feeding butterflies over multiple years and in both canopy and understory.
The willingness of a species to leave a forest fragment is a prerequisite for subsequent dispersal across the intervening non-forested landscape. Species with stringent fidelity to the forest patch will be isolated from populations in other fragments and predisposed to factors that promote extinction of local populations. Here, we document which fruit-feeding, forest-dwelling butterflies occur in the farm bush savannah outside an afrotropical forest reserve in order to gain a first approximation of those potentially dispersing across it. Standard fruit-baited traps hung at 80 m inside the forest, the forest edge and 12 and 50 m into the savannah matrix were used to characterize communities in the different habitats. A total of 1616 specimens were collected from the 19 traps, representing 90 species. Rarefied species richness was generally comparable across habitats. Multivariate ordination analyses, which integrate species composition and relative abundance in addition to richness, uncovered two broad community types, i.e. forest (edge plus 80 m inside) and matrix. Relative fidelity to forest habitat was investigated for the 45 species that were represented by at least five individuals. More than half of the forest-associated species showed relaxed fidelity to forest habitat and were commonly trapped in the matrix. Although forest generalists and dry forest species were expected to be more commonly trapped outside the forest relative to wet or moist forest species, there was no relationship between the relative occurrence of species in matrix versus forest habitat and their habitat association category.
We analysed movement parameters and vertical stratification in fruit-feeding butterflies between a control, a thinned and a plantation site within a West African rainforest. Overall, distances moved between traps were largest in the plantation. Movement parameters were generally largest in species feeding on early successional hostplants of gap and margin habitats. In these species, distances between recaptures were significantly shorter in the thinned compared to the control forest. Conversely, forest floor species feeding on climbers and understorey shrubs showed significantly larger movement in the thinned forest. Higher strata species also flew larger distances in the thinned understorey. Including higher strata samples, they were significantly less abundant in the thinned plot, although understorey sampling alone indicated the contrary. Comparing vertical distribution patterns between thinned and control sites indicated a disruption of vertical stratification after thinning. Canopy species seem to fly in the upper strata of the more closed-canopy control forest, whereas they descend more frequently in the forest opened by the thinning management. Understorey sampling might therefore lead to biased conclusions due to differences in vertical distribution between forest plots. This study showed that thinning can affect the restricted-range forest floor butterflies as well as the more widespread canopy butterfly fauna.
The effects of forest management on vegetation structure and capture frequencies of nymphalid butterflies were studied in a logged rain forest in south-east Cte d'Ivoire. An experimental compartment, where liberation thinning was carried out 3 years before, and a 5-year-old mono-dominant tree plantation were compared to a regenerating control compartment; 3642 specimens of 97 species were trapped. Accumulated species richness and diversity indices were lower in the control compared to the liberation thinning compartment, but lowest in the plantation. However, the habitat preference for traps situated in the control compartment was negatively correlated with the size of the species geographical range. Four out of five species with a lower capture frequency in the liberation thinning compartment showed preferences for mature succession stages and were either Upper Guinean endemics or Guinea–Congolian–restricted species. The seven species with higher capture frequencies in the liberation thinning compartment were all geographically widespread. Five of them showed higher frequencies in younger succession stages. Eight species, three canopy specialists and two Guinea savannah species, significantly preferred the plantation, while 17 species avoided this management type. Liberation thinning seems to affect the more specialised species with smaller geographic ranges, thus risking loss of regional diversity.
Quick surveys are often used by conservation biologists to assess biodiversity. In tropical forests, fruit-feeding butterflies are a convenient indicator group because they can be readily trapped and are comparatively easy to identify. However, studiescarried out in Costa Rica and Ecuador have revealed that long-term sampling is needed to estimate biodiversity accurately. Furthermore, almost half of the biodiversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in the neotropics was found to be in the canopy. Short term sampling in the understory can, therefore, lead to inaccurate estimates of species richness and worse, to poorly
informed conservation decisions. Comparable to the studies in South America, we performed a long-term trapping study of the same guild of butterflies in the understory and canopy of Kibale Forest in Uganda, to describe temporal and vertical patterns of biodiversity. We caught 32,308 individuals of 94 species over three years. About 14% of these species could be categorized as canopy specialists and 68% as understory specialists. Temporal variation was extensive and did not follow a clear seasonal
pattern. This is the first study in an African forest with continuous sampling of fruit-feeding butterflies over multiple years and in both canopy and understory.
Tropical primary rainforests of Africa are an enormous reservoir of carbon (C), most of which, in the common perception, is
stored in the biomass. We studied one of these forests, Ankasa, in the south-western part of Ghana, in terms of quantity and
14C activity of soil organic carbon (SOC) to elucidate the little known important role of soil in storing carbon in such biomass-rich
environments. The stock of carbon in the mineral soil to a depth of 1m was measured to be 151 ± 20MgCha−1, a similar value in magnitude to the one of the aboveground biomass being 138–170MgCha−1, including live and dead wood. Surface litter C is roughly 10% (15 ± 9MgCha−1) of the C in the biomass and soil. The radiocarbon measurements indicate that SOC was significantly affected by “bomb C”
enrichment, so that “Modern C”, namely with a mean radiocarbon age lower than 200years, is present also deeper than 45cm
in the Bo2 horizon. The mean residence time (MRT) estimated from radiocarbon content are of the order of a few decades in
the topsoil and a few centuries in the deeper horizons. Altogether, the MRT values indicate a fast recycle of C compared to
temperate or boreal forests, but not as fast as usually believed for tropical forest soils. Making a pondered mean, in the
Ankasa forest the time an atom of C resides in soil is not much different from one atom of C in the woody aboveground biomass.
Hence, the contribution of soil in storing C is substantial, implying that in primary rainforests it is mandatory to determine
the SOC stock and its dynamics, too often neglected or underestimated.
KeywordsMean residence time (MRT)-Primary rainforest-Radiocarbon-Soil organic carbon (SOC)-Carbon sequestration-Charcoal
Worldwide, tropical landscapes are increasingly dominated by human land use systems and natural forest cover is decreasing
rapidly. We studied frugivorous butterflies and several vegetation parameters in 24 sampling stations distributed over near-primary
forest (NF), secondary forest (SF), agroforestry and annual culture sites in the Northeastern part of the Korup region, SW
Cameroon. As in other studies, both butterfly species richness and abundance were significantly affected by habitat modification.
Butterfly richness and abundance were highest in SF and agroforestry sites and significantly lower in NF and annual crop sites.
Butterfly species richness increased significantly with increasing tree density, but seemed to decrease with increasing herb
diversity and density in annual crop farms. A significant negative correlation was found between butterfly geographic range
and their preference for NF sites. Our results also showed that agroforestry systems, containing remnants of natural forest,
can help to sustain high site richness, but appear to have low complementarity through loss of endemic species confined to
more undisturbed habitats. Our study also indicated that the abundance of selected restricted-range butterflies, particularly
in the family Nymphalidae, appears to be a good indicator to assess and monitor forest disturbance.
Tropical forest gaps are ephemeral and patchily distributed within forest areas and have very different light environments compared with closed-canopy forest. We used fruit-baited traps to investigate if gaps are exploited by more opportunistic butterfly species compared with closed-canopy forest. Gaps supported a higher diversity of butterflies in terms of species evenness but closed-canopy sites contained species with more restricted geographical distributions. There was little similarity between the assemblages of butterflies trapped in the canopy and those in either gap or closed-canopy sites, but the greater similarity was with gaps, and increased diversity in gaps was partly due to canopy species turning up in gaps. Dispersal rates (as measured by recapture rates) were higher in gaps and there was evidence that butterflies in gaps had relatively larger and broader thoraxes, indicating a flight morphology adapted for faster flight. These results support the notion of a distinctive gap fauna comprising more widespread, mobile species. Habitat modification that opens up the canopy is likely to result in an increase in these widespread species and a decline in understorey species with restricted distributions.
Sacred forest groves in Ghana are centuries old protected areas that were once part of continuous forest cover but now mostly
exist as relict forest patches embedded in an agropastoral landscape. We conducted a year-long survey of the fruit-feeding
butterfly fauna of four sacred groves and two forest reserves in the moist semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana to characterize
resident species diversity and complementarity among communities. Joint analysis of frugivorous butterfly diversity at these
six forest fragments, which ranged in size from 6 to 5000ha, was used to evaluate the conservation potential of these ancient
indigenous reserves. A total of 6836 individuals were trapped across all sites, representing 79 species and five subfamilies.
Community diversity was characterized in terms of, (a) number of species accumulated versus sampling effort, (b) rarefied
species richness, (c) nonparametric richness estimates, (d) species evenness, (e) Simpson’s Index of Diversity, and (f) complementarity
of communities. Diversity of the fruit-feeding butterfly communities, quantified in terms of both species evenness and rarefied
species richness, was higher at the larger forest reserves than at the small sacred forest groves. Additionally, although
all sites had species trapped only at that site, the 5000-ha forest reserve harbored a resident community that was clearly
distinctive from and more diverse than the other communities including the other forest reserve. Hence, our findings add to
the burgeoning body of data that indicates large reserves are the foundation of successful conservation programs. Nonetheless,
we found these small forest patches contribute to biodiversity conservation in at least three ways and these are identified
and discussed. We also identify a number of species that appear more or less vulnerable to dynamics of forest fragmentation
based on changes in their relative abundance across sites and we interpret these data in the context of potential indicator
species and theoretical predictions of at-risk species.
Roughly 90% of butterfly species live in the tropics. Despite this, we know very little about tropical butterfly ecology particularly when compared to temperate butterfly systems. The relative scarcity of data on tropical butterfly populations hampers our ability to effectively conserve them. In this review we summarize recurring themes from ecological research on tropical butterflies to serve as a framework for understanding their conservation. Key themes include: (1) the tropics represent the evolutionary origins of butterfly diversity, (2) while some tropical butterflies exhibit relatively stable population dynamics, longer-lived adult stages, and more continuous age-specific reproduction compared to temperate zone species, the generality of these patterns is debatable, and (3) complex species interactions (e.g. mimicry, parasitism and predation) can have significantly greater influences on ecological and evolutionary processes in tropical butterflies than in temperate ones. This state of ecological knowledge, combined with scarce resources, has traditionally constrained tropical butterfly conservation efforts to habitat level approaches, unlike the species- and population-specific approaches familiar in North America and Europe. Consequently, much conservation research on butterflies in the tropics has focused on the relationship between habitat quality (e.g. forest fragmentation) and butterfly diversity, though predictive patterns even in this regard remain elusive. We argue that with the increasing threats of habitat destruction, fragmentation and climate change, it is necessary to move beyond this diversity and habitat relationship if we are to improve predictive capabilities when evaluating anthropogenic impacts on tropical butterfly communities. Tropical butterflies are more than just useful indicator species. They represent some of the most spectacular and visually appealing organisms in the world and play many vital roles in tropical ecosystems. We hope that this synthesis will lay the groundwork for future ecological studies of tropical butterfly populations, species, communities and conservation.
This paper reviews the characteristics of animal seed dispersal relevant to tropical forest restoration efforts and discusses their management implications. In many tropical regions seed dispersal by animals is the predominant form of dissemination of propagules and has the potential to facilitate recolonization of native vegetation on degraded sites. The site traits relevant for attracting seed dispersers include the availability of perches, the structural complexity of the vegetation and the presence of food resources, especially fruit, as an attractant. Tree plantations with these traits will be particularly attractive to animal seed dispersers and, therefore, will have higher rates of seed rain than plantations lacking these traits. The efficacy of animal seed dispersal to restoration sites can be limited by the degree of isolation from a seed source, absence of animal seed dispersers in the region and by large seed size. In highly degraded regions, where seed sources may be isolated and animal seed dispersers rare, restoration will require direct seeding or planting. However, even under the best of conditions with a full compliment of animal seed dispersers and a nearby seed source, large-seeded species, because of their relative immobility, should be planted if a full return to primary forest is desired.
Forest clearing, forest degradation through human disturbance, and the deterioration of land productivity due to inappropriate agricultural practices is a major problem in the tropics. Restoration of ecosystem health and productivity has generally relied on abandonment of land and subsequent natural forest succession. In recent years there has been consideration of management options to accelerate recovery and restore productivity, biodiversity and other values. The use of tree plantations to catalyze restoration of degraded forests and lands in the tropics was addressed at a symposium in Washington DC in June 1996. The conclusions and suggestions for future research to develop appropriate management options are reported. There is strong evidence that plantations can facilitate forest succession in their understories through modification of both physical and biological site conditions. Changes in light, temperature and moisture at the soil surface enable germination and growth of seeds transported to the site by wildlife and other vectors from adjacent forest remnants. Development and design of management options to assist this process are required, taking into account socio-economic realities, development priorities and conservation goals.
The habitat preferences of the butterfly fauna were studied in the Bumbuna Forest Reserve in northern Sierra Leone. The intact forest reserve and a secondary forest regrowth, disturbed as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture, were compared to savanna habitats. Of the 290 specimens collected, 195 butterfly species were included, of which significant proportion were Nymphalidae. Of the 147 forest species, 111 (75.5%) showed preferences for the forest habitats, while 70 (47.6%) and 34 (23.1%) preferred disturbed and savannah habitats, respectively. Numerically, a comparable proportion of savannah species were recorded in the 18 disturbed (73.9%) and 16 savannah habitats (63.2%). Accumulated species richness and diversity indices were lower in the disturbed habitats compared to the forest reserve, but lowest in the savanna habitats. However, a large proportion of forest species, especially those with either a more restricted geographic range or species for which no information on geographic distribution was available, were exclusively captured in the forest patches. The survey indicated the presence of a rich butterfly fauna, which should be systematically collected for further research and study in order to build a good taxonomic database for Sierra Leone.
Butterflies of the Afrotropical genus Cymothoe are characterised by sexual dimorphism. Females of the most common species of the genus, Cymothoe caenis Drury, occur in many different forms in the equatorial zone, while only a single form is present west of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, raising the question as to whether the two populations need taxonomic recognition. We present molecular and genitalic evidence that the western populations of C. caenis s.l. comprise a distinct species: Cymothoe druryi sp. nov.
Species richness is a popular indicator of ecosystem vitality, but is difficult to assess. Many natural resource managers seek an efficient bioindicator, but the link between candidate indicators and the richness of other taxononic groups remains elusive. A series of faunal surveys in the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve in Cameroon suggest that it may be possible to devise faunal bioindicators. The species richness of birds, of butterflies and of termites is significantly correlated with total faunal richness across eight species groups, suggesting that these groups may have potential as bioindicators, alone or in combination. Although expensive, further research is warranted because of the substantial potential benefits and implications of the use of indicator groups.
We studied the impact of forest edges on the fruit-feeding butterfly communities of three forest remnants in Ghana, West Africa. Community diversity was assessed using traps baited with fermenting banana. Two 200-m, edge-to-interior transects of five traps each were established in each forest. Sampling spanned 1 yr for a total of 180-210 trap days per site and resulted in 2,634 specimens and 56 species. We found significant support for an effect of forest edge on butterfly diversity. The impact of distance from edge on point estimates of diversity, i.e., total trap captures, weighted species richness, and Simpson's diversity, was unique to each forest. Multivariate analyses, which integrated species composition along with relative abundance and richness, uncovered two broad community types, interior communities (those 100, 150, and 200 m distant from the edge) and exterior communities (edge communities and those 50 m distant), indicating that edge habitat generally extends at least 50 m into the forest. However, effects of edges on community diversity were still detected as far as 100 m into the forest. Three species relatively tolerant of forest degradation emerged as indicators of edge habitat. No species were indicative of core habitat.
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 5 of this report presents a good summary of the Atewa butterfly fauna based on the RAP survey and existing data and appears to be the first major review of butterflies in Ghana that has been written by Ghanaian researchers, which is promising for the future. The most important facts are well highlighted within that chapter: i) the uniqueness of the Upland Evergreen forest in Ghana (the small and damaged area in Tano Ofin aside), ii) the presence of three species of butterflies endemic to the Atewa Range, iii) the presence at Atewa of a significant number of species not found elsewhere in Ghana, and iv) the fact that with 700 species of butterflies certain to occur there, Atewa it is the most biodiverse locality in Ghana for that group. Aduse-Poku and Doku-Marfo thus leave little more to be said.
Mylothris atewa
However, some further notes on the endemic species Mylothris atewa (Atewa Dotted Border) are called for. The species seems first to have been collected in the 1960s by Father Theodor Maessen, a Roman Catholic priest who collected butterflies in Ghana for 32 years between 1950 and 1982, recording a total of more than 800 of the 930 species currently known from Ghana. However, only in 1980 was the species described by Dr. Lucien Berger, then curator for insects at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (MARC) in Tervuren, Belgium.
The species is quite different in both sexes from any other member of its genus, of which there are at least 60 species throughout Africa. Both sexes can be recognized at a glance from any of the eight Mylothris that fly in Atewa. The species flies only in the higher level forests where the Upland Evergreen vegetation is found, probably because it feeds on a species of mistletoe (Loranthaceae) that is similarly restricted in range. The potential range of this butterfly is certainly less than 100 km², but it occurs patchily and the actual inhabited area within the forest is much less than that. We can be almost certain that the species occurs nowhere else (should an overlooked population exist in Tano Ofin, it will be even smaller).
The small area of occurrence, the small population size, the encroachment on the forest, and the threat to the forest by mining has led to almost certain ranking of this species on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List in the most threatened category of Critically Endangered (CR).
UPLAND EVERGREEN FOREST — A FOSSIL HABITAT
Mylothris atewa obviously evolved in the Upland Evergreen forest, probably during cooler periods when the extent of this forest was larger than it is today, since it could survive at lower elevations. The Atewa Forest has had a complex history. During the many dry periods of the past 20 million years the West African rainforests have been pushed into tiny refuge areas (one of which was centered on Ankasa and southwestern Côte d'Ivoire, another on Liberia and eastern Sierra Leone). The rest of the forest zones were covered with savannah. During such periods the Atewa Forest must have survived as a forest island inside the savannah. During wetter periods the forests expanded far into Senegal and Burkina Faso - the savannahs of the Dahomey Gap in Togo and Bénin were also then covered with forest. But the upland forest type that had evolved during periods of isolation now survived as an island inside the type of lowland rainforest that we see today. The last major climatic perturbation took place as recently as the most recent ice-age. Pollen samples from Lake Bosumtwi show that between 19,000 and 15,000 years ago its surrounding was open savannah country: Atewa was too far to the south for the pollen of its forests to reach the lake. Samples from 10,000 years ago show a completely different picture. The forest had by then extended far to the north and east and no trace of savannah pollen was now present in the lake. Probably most of the Dahomey Gap was forested as well (Maley 1996). But the upland forest on Atewa still survived, and we still have it today.
The Upland Evergreen forest can actually be considered a fossil habitat that is very old, certainly measured in millions or tens of millions of years. Its flora and fauna will have changed over the vast periods of time, but evidence of its origins and affinities with the rest of Africa remain in the DNA of its present inhabitants. How old is Mylothris atewa? The relevant DNA analysis has not yet been undertaken. Judging from other butterflies where such studies have been made (e.g. the genus Bicyclus (Monteiro and Pierce 2000)), a species as distinct M. atewa probably diverged from the other West African Mylothris at least 5 million years ago. Ideally no organism should be allowed to go extinct, which will certainly happen to M. atewa if the upland forest is severely damaged or diminished in size. However, more important than a single butterfly is the Upland Evergreen forest as a habitat with its own unique and complex ecosystem. Inside the flora and fauna of the Upland Evergreen forest lie many secrets of evolutionary processes that have still not been unlocked. When these processes are unravelled, further light will be thrown on the effects of climatic perturbations on the distribution of organisms.
REFERENCES
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Butterflies of the Afrotropical genus Cymothoe are characterised by sexual dimorphism. Females of the most common species of the genus, Cymothoe caenis Drury, occur in many different forms in the equatorial zone, while only a single form is present west of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, raising the question as to whether the two populations need taxonomic recognition. We present molecular and genitalic evidence that the western populations of C. caenis s.l. comprise a distinct species: Cymothoe druryi sp. nov.
As mature tropical forests are cleared, secondary forests may play an important role in the conservation of animal species, depending on how fast animal communities recover during forest regeneration. I reviewed published studies on the recovery of animal species richness and composition during tropical forest regeneration. In 38 of the 39 data sets I examined, conversion of forest to agriculture or pasture substantially reduced species richness. Given suitable conditions for forest recovery, the species richness of the animal taxa considered can be predicted to resemble that of mature forests roughly 20–40 years after land abandonment. At least for ants and birds, however, recovery of species composition appears to take substantially longer than recovery of species richness. Because species richness for many taxa appears to recover relatively rapidly in secondary forests, conservation of secondary forests may be an effective investment in future diversity. The slower recovery of species composition indicates, however, that some species will require stands of mature forest to persist.
During the mid-1900s, most of the island of Puerto Rico was deforested, but a shift in the economy from agriculture to small industry beginning in the 1950s resulted in the abandonment of agricultural lands and recovery of secondary forest. This unique history pro- vides an excellent opportunity to study secondary for- est succession and suggest strategies for tropical for- est restoration. To determine the pattern of secondary succession, we describe the woody vegetation in 71 abandoned pastures and forest sites in four regions of Puerto Rico. The density, basal area, aboveground biomass, and species richness of the secondary forest sites were similar to those of the old growth forest sites ( . 80 yr) after approximately 40 years. The domi- nant species that colonized recently abandoned pas- tures occurred over a broad elevational range and are widespread in the neotropics. The species richness of Puerto Rican secondary forests recovered rapidly, but the species composition was quite different in com- parison with old growth forest sites, suggesting that enrichment planting will be necessary to restore the original composition. Exotic species were some of the most abundant species in the secondary forest, but their long-term impact depended on life history char- acteristics of each species. These data demonstrate that one restoration strategy for tropical forest in abandoned pastures is simply to protect the areas from fire, and allow natural regeneration to produce secondary forest. This strategy will be most effective if remnant forest (i.e., seed sources) still exist in the landscape and soils have not been highly degraded. Patterns of forest recovery also suggest strategies for accelerating natural recovery by planting a suite of generalist species that are common in recently aban- doned pastures in Puerto Rico and throughout much of the neotropics.
Although most conservation efforts focus on preserving biodiversity in relatively pristine ecosystems, we investigated possible conservation opportunities in human-dominated landscapes. We evaluated butterfly diversity in a tropical countryside that was converted about four decades ago from continuous forest to a mosaic of coffee farms, pasture, and forest fragments. We compared the butterfly fauna in coffee plantations with that in a forest remnant, the Las Cruces Reserve (227 ha). We used coffee plantation sites located “near” (<2.5 km) and “far” (>6 km) from the large forest remnant to test the effects of distance from the remnant on butterfly diversity. We also tested the effects of immediately adjacent habitat by selecting coffee plantation sites that were either contiguous with “small” (2.5–9.5 ha) forest fragments (coffee/forest) or lacking adjacent forest (coffee). Both coffee/forest and coffee habitats near the Las Cruces Reserve differed from those far from the reserve in species composition but not in species richness. Overall, coffee/forest habitats had significantly higher mean species richness and higher mean abundance of species than coffee and reserve sites. Further, butterflies with narrow geographic ranges were less likely to be found in coffee plantations than were those with larger geographic ranges. Area of forest cover within a radius of 50 to 100 m of the sampling site was significantly correlated with species richness of frugivorous butterflies during the dry season but was not correlated with richness of frugivorous butterflies in the wet season or of nonfrugivorous butterflies in either season. Nonetheless, species richness of frugivorous and nonfrugivorous butterflies was positively correlated overall; thus, frugivorous butterflies may be good indicators of the status of the entire butterfly community in a region. Our work suggests that small, isolated forest fragments may help retain butterfly diversity in the tropical countryside and increase the conservation value of agricultural landscapes. Relatively large tracts of forest remain important, however, because they maintain rare and endemic species.
Resumen: Aunque la mayoría de los esfuerzos de conservación se enfocan en la preservación de la biodiversidad en ecosistemas relativamente prístinos, investigamos las posibles oportunidades de conservación en paisajes dominados por humanos. Evaluamos la diversidad de mariposas en un paisaje tropical convertido, hace aproximadamente cuatro décadas, de bosque continuo a un mosaico de ranchos cafetaleros, pastizales y fragmentos de bosque. Comparamos la fauna de mariposas en plantaciones de café con la de un remanente de bosque, en la Reserva Las Cruces (227 ha). Utilizamos plantaciones de café localizadas “cerca” (<2.5 km) y “lejos” (>6 km) del remanente extenso de bosque para probar los efectos de la distancia del remanente sobre la diversidad de mariposas. También examinamos los efectos del hábitat inmediatamente adyacente seleccionando plantaciones de café contiguos a fragmentos de bosque (café/bosque) “pequeños” (2.5-9.5 ha) o sin bosque adyacente (café). Ambos hábitats café/bosque y café cerca de la Reserva Las Cruces difirieron de aquellos lejos de la reserva en la composición de especies pero no en la riqueza de especies. En general, los hábitats café/bosque tenían una riqueza de especies promedio significativamente mayor y una mayor abundancia promedio de especies que los sitios de café y de reserva. Más aún, en plantaciones de café fue menos probable encontrar mariposas con rangos geográficos angostos que mariposas con rangos geográficos mayores. La superficie de cobertura forestal a un radio de 50 a 100 m del sitio de muestreo se correlacionó significativamente con la riqueza de especies de mariposas frugívoras durante la época de sequía pero no se correlacionó con la riqueza de mariposas frugívoras durante la época de lluvias ni de las mariposas no frugívoras en ninguna época. Sin embargo, en general la riqueza de especies de mariposas frugívoras y no frugívoras se correlacionó positivamente; por tanto las mariposas frugívoras pueden ser buenas indicadoras del estatus de toda la comunidad de mariposas en una región. Nuestro trabajo sugiere que fragmentos pequeños y aislados pueden ayudar a retener la diversidad de mariposas en un paisaje tropical e incrementar el valor de conservación de los paisajes agrícolas. Sin embargo, los fragmentos de bosque relativamente grandes también son importantes porque mantienen especies raras y endémicas.
In assessing environmental change, butterflies have been proven as replicable indicators of biodiversity and functional integrity that can be monitored at a range of scales. Butterflies have been identified as important bio-indicators for assessing biodiversity and monitoring ecosystem responses to environmental perturbations. The objectives of this study were to determine changes in the butterfly fauna of differing sites in the Sango Bay Area (SBA) and Iriiri (Karamoja) in comparison with data collected 10 years ago, and to investigate the impact of different degrees of habitat disturbance on butterflies. The general butterfly diversity was determined by trapping and sweep netting along transect lines and by random sweeping. The impact of human-induced disturbance was assessed by comparing species richness and composition between the sites and regressing the weighted disturbances against species diversity per site. There was a marked decrease in species diversity and varied species composition between the two studies and between the habitat types. Charcoal burning and grazing had significant negative correlations with diversity within forest sites (r2 = 0.825, P < 0.05), whereas cultivation and tree cutting/logging had significant negative correlations with diversity of open savannas (r2 = 0.718, P < 0.05 and r2 = 0.999, P < 0.05, respectively).
Question
Does shifting cultivation contribute to plant diversity in an Afrotropical semi‐deciduous forest lacking large‐scale natural disturbance?
Location
Sanaimbo forest, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
Methods
We surveyed species assemblages, structural attributes of diversity, and life‐history traits along a 30‐year chronosequence of abandoned fields, comparatively to old‐growth and selectively logged forest stands.
Results
Patterns of species assemblages strongly changed with fallow area age, with respect to species'light requirements, suggesting niche partitioning along the successional gradient. Species richness, diversity and equitability were all increasing along this gradient. There were clear shifts in life‐history traits spectra as the forest recovered, especially regarding leaf shape, lifespan and hairiness, diaspore dispersal, seed size, resprouting capacity, and life forms. Early colonization by the invasive Chromolaena odorata did not appear to impair secondary succession. Soil type influenced old‐growth forest vegetation but not fallow vegetation. After 30 years of forest regrowth, plant communities exhibited endemism rates similar to those of ancient forests.
Conclusions
Shifting cultivation appears to be a sustainable land use when small‐sized fields are embedded in a forest matrix and when agriculture lasts only one to few years, preserves remnant trees, excludes fire and keeps several years between two clearing episodes. It may even contribute to the high biodiversity maintenance at the whole forest scale, by conserving the successional mosaic. However, conservation of old‐growth forest patches is required for a number of climax tree species.
1. There is an urgent need to understand the impacts of anthropogenic habitat disturbance on biodiversity in tropical forests, but no consensus has yet emerged. We reviewed the literature for the most frequently studied taxon (birds, 37 studies) and found that increased and decreased diversity in response to disturbance (selective logging and shifting agriculture) were reported with approximately equal frequency.
2. The spatial scale at which studies were carried out significantly affected the reported response to disturbance: studies where disturbed and undisturbed habitats were sampled at large spatial scales were more likely to report increased diversity following disturbance, whereas studies that sampled habitats at small spatial scales were more likely to report decreased diversity. These results were not a consequence of sampling method: we divided the studies into those using capture methods and those using observation methods and the same result was obtained when the analysis was restricted to only those studies using observation methods.
3. Previously, we have shown that reported impacts of disturbance on Lepidoptera are also affected by the spatial scale of study. We reviewed the Lepidoptera literature published since then and showed that all 12 new studies conformed to the predicted pattern.
4. While sampling scale significantly affected the reported responses of both birds and Lepidoptera, there were opposite effects of scale in the two taxa: large-scale bird studies and small-scale Lepidoptera studies were more likely to report increased diversity following disturbance. Bird studies were generally carried out at larger spatial scales than those of Lepidoptera and these opposite impacts of scale were probably due to a non-linear effect of habitat disturbance on habitat heterogeneity at different spatial scales.
5. Synthesis and applications. The rapid loss and degradation of tropical forests means that an understanding of the general patterns of responses of species to habitat disturbance is urgently needed. However, there has been little discussion of the most appropriate methods to ensure comparability of results between studies. Data presented here indicate that the spatial scale of sampling chosen in studies has a marked effect on the results obtained, and future studies need to account for this by examining explicitly the effects of disturbance at different spatial scales. The effect of spatial scale differs between taxa, and this may explain why the search for indicator taxa of disturbance effects has so far proved elusive.
Species richness, diversity and composition of butterflies in two Kenya coastal forest remnants, Muhaka and Mrima hill, were investigated. Sixty-three species were recorded from each forest remnant from a total of 1329 individuals. Species accumulation curves for both forests did not reach an asymptote. High species similarity was recorded between the forest interior and the surrounding matrix, primarily due to invasion of the forest interior clearings by the savanna species. Despite their small sizes, these forest remnants were found to maintain viable populations of true forest butterflies. However, the number of species was less than half that recorded from the larger forest reserve of Arabuko-Sokoke, located in the same geographical area. Records from Muhaka forest show species unique to it, not found in the larger forest reserves, underscoring the importance of small remnants in the preservation of forest biodiversity. The high species similarity between the forest remnants implied that if habitat corridors were created, gene flow between these remnants and other larger forest reserves would be possible. This would reduce the isolation of true forest butterfly populations within the remnants and potential local extinction.
The butterfly assemblages of pairs of forest habitats, differing in disturbance level, within the Victoria Mayaro reserve of South-East Trinidad, are described using walk-and-count transects and canopy and understorey fruit traps. The concurrent use of these two butterfly censusing techniques, revealed major but conflicting differences in species accumulation rates under different disturbance conditions. The disturbed evergreen habitat had the significantly highest accumulation rate from walk-and-count data but the significantly lowest from fruit trap data. This reflects the specificity of much of the fruit-feeding guild for closed canopy forest. Disturbed habitats were found to lack a distinct canopy fauna. These results are discussed in light of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. Within a region of forest, butterflies were found to be more characteristic of a disturbance level than of a particular forest type, lending weight to the belief that butterfly faunas can be used as bioindicators of forest disturbance. Several restricted geographic range species were not adversely affected by forest disturbance, at these levels of disturbance. The butterfly censuses in this study suggest that the optimal strategy for safeguarding butterfly species richness under natural forest management regimes would be to maintain a mosaic of habitats that included areas of undisturbed primary forest and a network of other forest patches, that varied in management regime and level of disturbance.
Natural regeneration of native tree species in the understoreys of fast-growing plantation tree species (Acacia mangium, Gmelina arborea and Paraserianthes falcataria) and in adjacent natural riverine forest and non-cultivated grassland areas were studied on Imperata cylindrica grassland sites in Riam Kiwa plantation area, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Seedling and sapling densities as well as species composition and richness were assessed in a total of 35 ha by a systematic line plot survey.
Floristic composition was similar in A. mangium and P. falcataria stands which differed distinctly from G. arborea stands and Imperata grassland area. Riverine forest was characterized by later successional species. In A. mangium and P. falcataria stands, a total of 63 species from 24 families were recorded. Seedling stock consisted merely of pioneer and secondary species, but also several fairly commonly occurring primary forest species. Euphorbiaceae was the most common family representing 42% of sapling and 29% of seedling densities. The most abundant regeneration occurred in A. mangium stands (4,706 seedling/sapling ha-1), followed by P. falcataria (2,242 ha-1) and G. arborea (554 ha-1). Seedling recruitment was significantly lower in plots dominated by grass vegetation than those dominated by no vegetation or shrub vegetation. Breast height diameter and basal area of canopy trees as well as coverage and height of ground vegetation did not explain seedling/sapling density. Results show that plantation establishment with suitable fast-growing tree species facilitates recruitment of a variety of native tree species. This provides potential for rapid restoration of forest ecosystem and for further development of the mixed stands of fast-growing exotics and naturally regenerated native species.
Remote sensing has generally been used to study the role of tropical forests as a source of atmospheric carbon, primarily through land-use change, such as deforestation, and biomass burning. Regeneration of forest on previously cleared areas, however, is a significant carbon sink. The strength of this carbon sink is dependent on the age and composition of the regenerating forest. The ability to identify regenerating forest classes that may differ in terms of carbon sink strength was investigated with Landsat TM data of a test site near Manaus, Brazil. A number of forest age classes were defined from a time series of Landsat sensor data, and their separability in Landsat TM data was assessed by maximum likelihood classifications. A high level of class separability was observed with a weighted kappa coefficient of 0.8569 obtained for a classification of six forest regeneration classes. Of the classification errors observed most were found to be associated with the youngest forest age class. At the test site, however, two main successional pathways were followed and the differences between areas of forest of the same age but on different pathways was most apparent with the youngest forests. Splitting the regenerating forests by the successional pathway was found to increase classification accuracy, with a weighted kappa coefficient of 0.9315 observed for an 11 class classification. A range of tropical forest classes that vary in strength as a carbon sink could therefore be identified accurately from Landsat TM data. Although the broader generality of the results requires further investigation, this indicates the potential to use image classifications to scale-up point measurements of the carbon flux between regenerating forest classes and the atmosphere over large areas.
Despite the long popularity of Charaxes among collectors and researchers, their evolutionary history is largely unknown. The current and accepted species groupings and relationships within the genus are based exclusively on adult morphology and life histories. Here, we examine the monophyly and evolutionary affinities of the species-groups within the genus Charaxes and explore how they relate to members of their closest genera (Euxanthe, Polyura and Palla) using 4167bp of sequence data from five (1 mitochondrial and 4 nuclear) gene regions. Within the proposed phylogenetic framework, we estimate ages of divergence within the genus and also reconstruct their historical biogeography. We included representatives of all known species-groups in Africa and Asia, all known species of Euxanthe and Palla and two exemplar species of Polyura. We found the genus Charaxes to be a paraphyletic group with regard to the genera Polyura and Euxanthe, contrary to the earlier assumption of monophyly. We found that 13 out of 16 morphologically defined species-groups with more than one species were strongly supported monophyletic clades. Charaxes nichetes is the sister group to all the other Charaxes. Polyura grouped with the Zoolina and Pleione species-groups as a well-supported clade, and Euxanthe grouped with the Lycurgus species-group. Our results indicated that the common ancestor of Charaxes diverged from the common ancestor of Palla in the mid Eocene (45 million years ago) in (Central) Africa and began diversifying to its extant members 15 million years later. Most of the major diversifications within the genus occurred between the late Oligocene and Miocene when the global climates were putatively undergoing drastic fluctuations. A considerable number of extant species diverged from sister species during the Pliocene. A dispersal-vicariance analysis suggests that many dispersal rather than vicariance events resulted in the distribution of the extant species. The genus Polyura and the Indo-Australian Charaxes are most likely the results of three independent colonizations of Asia by African Charaxes in the Miocene. We synonymize the genera Polyura (syn. nov.) and Euxanthe (syn. nov.) with Charaxes, with the currently circumscribed Charaxes subdivided into five subgenera to reflect its phylogeny.
Conservationists are far from able to assist all species under threat, if only for lack of funding. This places a premium on priorities: how can we support the most species at the least cost? One way is to identify 'biodiversity hotspots' where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat. As many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. This opens the way for a 'silver bullet' strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world's species at risk.
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Note sur le genre Henotesia Butler (Lepidoptera, Satyridae)