Abstract
Urbanization threatens the diversity of butterflies due to habitat fragmentation with environmental degradation. Butterflies, as potent pollinators and ecological indicators, are important in conservation planning and environmental monitoring. This study provides a comprehensive insight into the species diversity of butterflies in Ankleshwar, an industrial town in Gujarat, India, and has potential use in urban planning and conservation. A total of 63 species belonging to five families were photo-documented and identified. The richest family was Nymphalidae, followed by Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae, and Papilionidae. Junonia Hübner, [1819] and Colotis Hübner, [1819] were the dominant genera with five species each. Six species have the IUCN status of Least Concern but 57 species are Not Evaluated. Seven species are afforded protection under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This study highlights the need to conserve rare and threatened butterfly species.
Highlights
Biodiversity knowledge is important for assessing the overall health of ecosystems, as well as for the development of proper conservation plans, especially in ecologically sensitive groups such as butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) (Chowdhury and Soren 2011)
The town is known for the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), which was established under the Gujarat Industrial Development Act of 1962 with a goal of accelerating industrialization in the state
Our study focused mainly on producing a checklist of butterfly species in the industrial town of Ankleshwar, Gujarat, India
Summary
Biodiversity knowledge is important for assessing the overall health of ecosystems, as well as for the development of proper conservation plans, especially in ecologically sensitive groups such as butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) (Chowdhury and Soren 2011). Numerous species act as biological indicators of environmental health and ecological changes (Thomas 2005; Posha and Sodhi 2006; Koh 2007) due to their sensitivity to habitat fragmentation and climate change (Kunte 2000). Urbanization in cities has rapidly created many fragmented land patches, while very few places have been retained or converted to green areas for the conservation of the local flora and fauna. While urban green areas may reduce the impact of urbanization on biodiversity, it is often over-managed and ends up in small, fragmented patches which may be isolated (Kuhn et al 2008). Our study examines the diversity and species richness of butterflies in the town of Ankleshwar and discusses the conservation needs of rare and threatened butterfly species
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