Abstract
The rapid and selective responses to changes in habitat structure and climate have made butterflies valuable environmental indicators. In this study, we asked whether the decline in butterfly populations near the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk in northwestern Russia is accompanied by phenotypic stress responses to toxic pollutants, expressed as a decrease in body size and an increase in fluctuating asymmetry. We measured the concentrations of nickel and copper, forewing length, and fluctuating asymmetry in two elements of wing patterns in Boloria euphrosyne, Plebejus idas, and Agriades optilete collected 1–65 km from Monchegorsk. Body metal concentrations increased toward the smelter, confirming the local origin of the collected butterflies. The wings of butterflies from the most polluted sites were 5–8% shorter than those in unpolluted localities, suggesting adverse effects of pollution on butterfly fitness due to larval feeding on contaminated plants. However, fluctuating asymmetry averaged across two hindwing spots did not change systematically with pollution, thereby questioning the use of fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of habitat quality in butterfly conservation projects.
Highlights
Butterflies are valuable environmental indicators because they rapidly and selectively respond even to subtle changes in habitat structure and climate [1,2].Their colorful appearance and aesthetic appeal have attracted attention to these insects from both the general public and decision-makers [3] and have made butterflies focal objects of multiple national and international monitoring schemes [4,5], as well as of citizen science projects (e.g., www.iNaturalist.org)
We verified our predictions by measuring concentrations of nickel and copper, forewing length, and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of the two wing spots in three butterfly species collected at different distances from the polluter
We explored the data on 60 butterflies, which were measured twice, for the presence of FA and directional asymmetry (DA) relative to the measurement error by means of mixed-model ANOVA with the butterfly wing considered as a fixed factor and the individual butterfly as a random factor
Summary
Butterflies are valuable environmental indicators because they rapidly and selectively respond even to subtle changes in habitat structure and climate [1,2] (and references therein) Their colorful appearance and aesthetic appeal have attracted attention to these insects from both the general public and decision-makers [3] and have made butterflies focal objects of multiple national and international monitoring schemes [4,5], as well as of citizen science projects (e.g., www.iNaturalist.org (accessed on 20 March 2021)). Many insect populations decline with increases in pollution [12,15,16], making this pattern seem trivial, this decline may have emerged for various reasons These include (but are not limited to) direct toxicity of pollutants for insects and/or multiple indirect effects, acting, e.g., through the disappearance of forest habitats and the resulting changes in microclimate. We verified our predictions by measuring concentrations of nickel and copper, forewing length, and FA of the two wing spots in three butterfly species collected at different distances from the polluter
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