Investigating butterfly communities in peri-urban areas of Alba Iulia, Romania

Abstract

"More than 50% of the human population lives in cities presently, and the expansion of urban areas is more accelerated than ever. This affects natural ecosystems through habitat fragmentation, pollution, degradation of habitats etc. Urban ecology studies increased over the last 20 years to address all problems related to urbanisation, from biodiversity conservation to sustainability and resource management. Studies investigating urban and peri-urban biodiversity are useful for the development of sustainable cities, and are very scarce in Romania. Our study documented the butterfly diversity and community assemblages over two years, of a periurban area of the city Alba Iulia, in Romania. We produced a species list and documented the composition of butterfly communities in two habitat types (grassland and park), that are widespread in and around Transylvanian cities."