Temporal Dynamics of Fruit-Feeding Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Two Habitats in a Seasonal Brazilian Environment

Abstract

The Cerrado Biome comprises many habitats, the most common being the savanna type. This biome presents an intense dry season that imposes difficulties on organism survival. The Cerrado’s wet season is the period of greatest abundance and richness of species, including the Lepidoptera. In Brazil, most studies on Nymphalidae seasonality have been conducted in biomes other than the Cerrado. Thus, the pattern of the Nymphalidae seasonality in the Cerrado is unknown. The aim of this study was to describe the temporal dynamics of these butterflies in both savanna and gallery forest habitats in the Cerrado, comparing our findings to those previously reported from other Brazilian biomes, and to discuss the effects of weather and habitat structure on temporal dynamics. Thirty bait-traps were distributed in 2 vertical strata (understory and canopy) in each habitat type (savanna and gallery forest; thus, 60 bait-traps were distributed during 6 d each month from Jul 2012 to Jun 2013. In total, 3,459 individuals of 62 species were captured. The transition between the wet and dry season presented the greatest abundance and species richness and was the period of lowest evenness in the Nymphalidae community. Two distinct assemblages were found in the savanna and gallery forest. Moreover, greater butterfly species turnover was found over time in the gallery forest than in the savanna habitat. These results highlight the importance of climatic seasons, plant phenology, and habitat structure as important predictors of the temporal dynamics of these butterflies in the Cerrado Biome. Furthermore, the floristic and structural distinctiveness of the savanna and gallery forest, and the biological requirements of the butterfly species, could explain a large portion of the species turnover observed in the gallery forest.