Effect of habitat loss and fragmentation on fruit-feeding butterflies in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation have drastically altered the availability and quality of tropical forest habitats, but information on how such changes influence local biodiversity is still insufficient. Here, we examine the effects of both patch and landscape metrics on fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages in a fragmented landscape of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our study was carried out in three habitat types: eight fragments (ranging from 8 to 126 ha), eight areas of forest edge (50 m from forest border), and eight areas of forest interior (>200 m from forest border) of the largest remnant (3500 ha) of the Atlantic Forest of northeast Brazil. Our results demonstrated that fragment area is negatively correlated with observed and estimated richness and abundance of butterflies, whereas habitat type is correlated with estimated richness and abundance of butterflies. Species composition responded to habitat type, fragment area, and distance between sample units. These findings illustrated (i) fruit-feeding butterfly sensitivity to habitat loss and fragmentation, (ii) that species composition and abundance are adequate parameters to access the responses of fruit-feeding butterflies to habitat loss and fragmentation, and (iii) the relevance of a heterogeneous and connected landscape for conservation of butterflies, where small fragments are important for generalist or open-habitat specialists and large remnants are key for disturbance-sensitive and threatened taxa.