Abstract
Loss and fragmentation of semi-natural grasslands have had negative consequences for grassland biodiversity, such as butterflies. Urban parks and other urban green spaces have so far largely been overlooked as suitable butterfly habitats, although they could potentially sustain diverse butterfly populations over time. We analysed the temporal change in butterfly species assemblages in urban green spaces in the city of Malmö, Southern Sweden. We studied changes in species richness and abundance of butterflies between 2006 and 2015 in 20 public urban green spaces, characterized by different management regimes. We sampled butterflies in traditional parks with intense grass cutting regimes, in semi-natural grasslands mowed only a few times per year, and in un-managed or irregularly managed ruderal sites. We found a slight increase in the total number of butterfly species in the study area, but a general decline in local species numbers in urban green spaces. Traditional urban parks had the greatest loss of species over time, and altogether the lowest number of species. In contrast, semi-natural parks and ruderal sites had higher numbers of butterfly species and also lost fewer species over time. Our study shows that intensive management strategies in urban green spaces have a negative impact on butterfly assemblages over time. We suggest that less intensive management strategies can be used to create high-quality areas for flower-visiting insects in urban green spaces, possibly in combination with planting larval host plant species, depending on the park type and design.
Highlights
Landscape fragmentation and habitat transformation by rapid agricultural intensification are among the main causes for the loss of biodiverse habitats, such as semi-natural grasslands (Green 1990; Luoto et al 2003)
As we found no correlation between total number of butterfly species and site area (r = 0.16), we consider that effects of local management will have stronger effects than the urban green space area per se
In 2015 Maniola jurtina was the most abundant species followed by Zygaena filipendulae, Aphantopus hyperantus, Pieris rapae, and Polyommatus icarus, which together constituted more than 90% of the total individuals recorded
Summary
Landscape fragmentation and habitat transformation by rapid agricultural intensification are among the main causes for the loss of biodiverse habitats, such as semi-natural grasslands (Green 1990; Luoto et al 2003). Studies on grassland species have revealed marked declines and local extinctions amongst flower-visiting insects (Nilsson et al 2013; Potts et al 2010; Van Swaay et al 2016), in particular concerning species with high habitat specificity (Kuussaari et al 2007). Urbanization has emerged as another main driver of habitat loss and fragmentation of natural and semi-natural habitats (Parris 2016). Local changes relating to loss of habitat quantity or quality are among the most important drivers of biodiversity loss in urban contexts (Beninde et al 2015; Merckx et al 2018). Urban Ecosyst (2019) 22:335–344 increases with urbanization, leading to further negative effects on urban biodiversity (Beninde et al 2015; McKinney 2008; Aronson et al 2017)
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