Lepidopteran species richness of alpine sites in the High Sudetes Mts.: effect of area and isolation

Abstract

Alpine sites in the High Sudetes Mts. host—due to their history and special climatic conditions—unique assemblages of lepidopteran species. We used data from ten of these sites to study species richness of the lepidopteran fauna and to test the effect of site area, distance to the nearest site and connectivity. For this, we used cluster analyses, species–area relationship and the incidence function model, followed by canonical analysis to test the importance of individual factors. The list of species was compiled from available literature sources with regard to recent findings. Species richness depended significantly on all geographic factors—area, distance and connectivity. Large alpine sites were more species-rich than smaller ones and remote sites differed in species composition from the others. We conclude that any decrease of the area of these sites will drastically affect the unique lepidopteran assemblages living in the High Sudetes Mts.