The diversity and abundance of butterfly [Lepidoptera] in several urban green spaces of Malang city

Abstract

Urban green spaces have become one of the butterfly habitat remnants, which decreased by the expansion of cities and urbanization. In this study, we analyze the diversity and abundance of butterfly communities in several urban green spaces of Malang City. We used a scan sampling method along the transect line in five study sites, namely, Taman Singha Merjosari, Kebun Bibit Mojolangu, Taman Slamet, and Alun-Alun Malang. The composition of butterfly communities was analyzed regarding the number of individuals, species richness, Shanon Wiener diversity index, importance value index, similarity cluster and analysis of CCA to determine the correlation of abiotic factor and butterfly community. A total of 1284 individuals, 38 species which belong to 4 families with Leptosia nina as the most dominant species. The highest diversity index was found in Taman Singha Merjosari. According to the diversity index, all four urban green spaces in Malang city were on a moderate level (index value between 1 to 3). This attributed to the fact that butterfly diversity in urban green spaces still had not been completely disturbed yet.