Butterfly Community Composition Research Articles

Determinants of Butterfly Community Structure and Composition at the Local Habitat Level: Importance of Neighboring Vegetation and Management Status: A Case Study

Exploring the determinants of biological community structure is important not only for understanding the formation of the community, but also for promoting its biodiversity conservation. We monitored butterfly communities in a grassland and woodland area of Mount Fuji, Japan, and explored the environmental factors that influenced them. Multivariate regression tree (MRT) analysis generated a 3-leaved MRT (G1, G2, and G3) and showed the total explained variation of 64.4% in the species composition. The explanatory variables discriminating between the two branches in the first node and in the second node of the MRT were neighboring plant community and management status, respectively. The neighboring plant community was related to the distribution of butterfly dietary resources and contributed a lot in determining the species composition of the community while the management status was largely related to the amount of their dietary resources, affecting the species richness and diversity. The PCA results revealed that the three key groups (G1, G2, and G3) were formed along the gradients of these two factors. Consequently, maintaining mowing management and the diversity of neighboring vegetation is very important for the continuance of butterfly community diversity and composition and the conservation of Red Listed species in the area.

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

"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."

Impacts of land use change on native plant-butterfly interaction networks from central Mexico.

Land use change is a key catalyst of global biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Deforestation and conversion of natural habitats to agricultural or urban areas can profoundly disrupt plant-flower visitor interactions by altering their abundances and distribution. Yet, specific studies analyzing the effects of land use change on the structure of networks of the interactions between particular groups of flower visitors and their plants are still scarce. Here, we aimed to analyze how converting native habitats affects the species composition of butterfly communities and their plants, and whether this, in turn, leads to changes in the structure of interaction networks in the modified habitats. We performed bi-monthly censuses for a year to record plant-butterfly interactions and assess species diversity across three habitat types, reflecting a land-use change gradient. From original native juniper forest to urban and agricultural zones in central Mexico, one site per land use type was surveyed. Interactions were summarized in matrices on which we calculated network descriptors: connectance, nestedness and modularity. We found highest butterfly diversity in native forest, with the most unique species (i.e., species not shared with the other two sites). Agricultural and urban sites had similar diversity, yet the urban site featured more unique species. The plant species richness was highest in the urban site, and the native forest site had the lowest plant species richness, with most of the plants being unique to this site. Butterfly and plant compositions contrasted most between native forest and modified sites. Network analysis showed differences between sites in the mean number of links and interactions. The urban network surpassed agriculture and native forest networks in links, while the native forest network had more interactions than the agriculture and urban networks. Native plants had more interactions than alien species. All networks exhibited low connectance and significant nestedness and modularity, with the urban network featuring the most modules (i.e., 10 modules). Converting native habitats to urban or agricultural areas reshapes species composition, diversity and interaction network structure for butterfly communities and plants. The urban network showed more links and modules, suggesting intricate urban ecosystems due to diverse species, enhanced resources, and ecological niches encouraging interactions and coexistence. These findings emphasize the impacts of land use change on plant-butterfly interactions and the structure of their interaction networks.

Synchronous long‐term trends in abundance and compositional variability of butterflies in Central Europe

AbstractAnnual insect abundances are determined by short‐term population fluctuations and long‐term trends in community composition. Any assessment of this temporal variability needs long‐term quantitative data on abundances. Here we use museum data (1940–2017) of butterflies and burnet moths from southwestern Germany and central Austria comprising 220,758 records from 155 species, and 55,641 records from 170 species, respectively. We ask whether population fluctuations and long‐term population trends are spatially synchronized across larger spatial distances (>300 km) according to the Moran effect, and whether common trends in community composition and stability exist? Population fluctuations of 85.5% of species jointly occurring in both study regions were positively correlated (mean r = 0.30 ± 0.03). Comparing different time windows, we found different sets of species being in spatial synchrony reflecting temporal changes in butterfly community composition. Mesophilic, habitat generalist, and dispersive species were significantly more synchronized than xerothermophilic, habitat specialist, and sedentary species. Long‐distance travelers were particularly synchronized. In both study regions, species rank orders became less even with time. Stability in community composition increased with time with an ongoing trend to faunal homogenization, but not to species loss. Our study points to global and not to local drivers behind trends in butterfly population fluctuations and compositional stability, in the present case to altered land use and urbanization as major drivers toward synchrony and homogenization. Finally, our data have implications for conservation strategies as they strongly indicate that natural landscape structures are associated with higher faunal compositional variability in comparison to agricultural and urban landscapes.

Livestock density affects species richness and community composition of butterflies: A nationwide study

Extensively managed grasslands are globally recognized for their high biodiversity value. Over the past century, a continuous loss and degradation of grassland habitats has been observed across Europe that is mainly attributable to agricultural intensification and land abandonment. Particularly insects have suffered from the loss of grassland habitats due to land-use change and the decrease in habitat quality, either due to an increase in livestock density, higher mowing frequency, and an increase in nitrogen fertilization, or by abandonment. However, only a few studies have used nationwide datasets to analyse the effects of land cover and land-use intensity on insects. It further remains largely unexplored how these effects are modulated by species traits, i.e. habitat specialisation and mobility. Using nationwide butterfly data originating from the German Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, we investigated the effect of three indicators related to land cover and agricultural land-use intensity on species richness as well as trait composition of butterfly communities. Based on agricultural census data at the municipality scale, we calculated the share of permanent grasslands (measure of habitat availability), the total livestock density (proxy for organic fertilization) and the livestock density of domestic herbivores (proxy for management intensity in grasslands) within a 2 km buffer surrounding each butterfly transect. To analyse the relationships between butterflies and indicators of land cover and land-use intensity, we applied generalised linear mixed effect models. We found a negative relationship between butterfly species richness and the livestock density of domestic herbivores. Further, the ratio of butterfly generalist to specialist species shifted towards generalists and the size of butterflies increased with higher herbivore livestock density, indicating a shift in communities towards mobile habitat generalists. Our results are in accordance with previous studies carried out across smaller geographic extents, highlighting the importance of low herbivore livestock densities to halt the loss of pollinating insects and safeguard biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. We here demonstrate that indicators based on livestock distribution data at the municipality scale can provide insights into processes and spatial diversity patterns of butterflies at the national level. Further, we highlight potentials and limitations of using agricultural census data to quantify and assess effects of land cover and land-use intensity on butterflies, and make recommendations for further research needs.

Species traits help explain butterfly habitat use in a tropical forest

Abstract When species can access all parts of the landscape, species‐sorting metacommunity theory predicts that community composition depends on habitat choice and interactions with other species and the environment. These filtering processes can also depend on species' traits. The authors investigated how traits mediate a species‐sorting process in determining butterfly community composition in a naturally patchy landscape in the tropical Western Ghats, India. The authors asked, do traits mediate access to certain habitats and does seasonality affect these patterns? The authors surveyed 56 habitat patches in three habitat types: laterite plateau grasslands, ridge grassland, and moist‐deciduous forest, in a 65‐km2 landscape. Non‐palatable butterflies showed similar occurrences across seasons and habitats, but palatable butterflies were less commonly encountered in open habitats in the dry season. Polyphagous butterflies occurred infrequently in the dry season in laterite habitats, potentially indicating emigration or diapause patterns are linked to diet breadth. All species were present in all habitats, implying dispersal does not limit access to different habitat patches, consistent with the species‐sorting metacommunity concept. Nevertheless, butterfly occurrence was strongly influenced by the interaction of mobility and habitat type with sedentary species occurring less often in low‐resource open laterite patches than mobile species. Species sorting is typically regarded as occurring directly through environmental filters, but here the authors suggest that the environmental filter acts through movement limitations. Studies integrating landscape heterogeneity and species characteristics will help us better understand metacommunities and species distributions in nature.

Cattle grazing results in greater floral resources and pollinators than sheep grazing in low-diversity grasslands.

Land‐use and land‐cover change associated with agriculture is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. In heavily modified agricultural landscapes, grazing lands may be the only areas that can provide essential resources for native grassland species. Management decisions, such as choice of livestock species, affect the extent to which grazing lands provide suitable habitat for native species such as pollinators.Our study compared how sheep versus cattle herbivory affected floral resources and butterfly abundance across low‐diversity, former Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pastures managed with patch‐burn grazing.Across all years (2017–2019), flowering species richness and abundance were significantly higher in cattle pastures than sheep pastures. On average, we recorded 6.9 flowering species/transect in cattle pastures and 3.8 flowering species/transect in sheep pastures. The average floral abundance per transect was 1278 stems/transect in cattle pastures and 116 stems/transect in pastures grazed by sheep.Similarly, we observed higher butterfly species richness, diversity, and abundance in cattle than in sheep pastures. In cattle pastures, we observed an average of 75 butterflies and 6.75 species per transect, compared with an average of 52 butterflies and 3.37 species per transect in sheep pastures. However, the butterfly community composition did not significantly differ between grazing treatments likely because agricultural‐tolerant, habitat generalists comprised the majority of the butterfly community. Five generalist butterflies comprised 92.3% of observations; Colias philodice was the most abundant (61% of observations). Speyeria idalia and Danaus plexippus, two butterflies of conservation concern, comprised less than 0.5% of butterfly observations.Our results, which are among the first attempt quantifying butterfly use of post‐CRP fields grazed by livestock, show that increased precipitation and cattle grazing promoted higher forb abundance and richness. However, additional interventions may be needed to enhance floral resources to sustain and improve pollinator diversity in these landscapes.

Changes in Alpine Butterfly Communities during the Last 40 Years.

Simple SummaryThe Alps are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change, as these modifications take place at a faster pace at higher elevations. Since butterflies are ideal model systems to investigate species responses to climate and habitat changes, we monitored a butterfly community of the Valasco valley in the Maritime Alps (NW Italy) by three sampling events covering a period longer than 40 years. We observed an overall increase in mobile, tolerant and thermophilous species, which eventually might cause an overall loss of community distinctiveness. The variations observed in the butterfly community can be explained by the notable increase in maximum temperatures and the reduction of grasslands, along with the increase of woodlands, supporting the hypothesis that local warming and land-use changes have ultimately affected the butterfly community composition.Our work aims to assess how butterfly communities in the Italian Maritime Alps changed over the past 40 years, in parallel with altitudinal shifts occurring in plant communities. In 2019, we sampled butterflies at 7 grassland sites, between 1300–1900 m, previously investigated in 2009 and 1978, by semi-quantitative linear transects. Fine-scale temperature and precipitation data elaborated by optimal interpolation techniques were used to quantify climate changes. The changes in the vegetation cover and main habitat alterations were assessed by inspection of aerial photographs (1978–2018/1978–2006–2015). The vegetation structure showed a marked decrease of grassland habitats and an increase of woods (1978–2009). Plant physiognomy has remained stable in recent years (2009–2019) with some local exceptions due to geomorphic disturbance. We observed butterfly ‘species substitution’ indicating a general loss in the more specialised and a general gain in more tolerant elements. We did not observe any decrease in species richness, but rather a change in guild compositions, with (i) an overall increased abundance in some widespread and common lowland species and (ii) the disappearance (or strong decrease) of some alpine (high elevation) species, so that ‘resilience’ could be just delusive. Changes in butterfly community composition were consistent with predicted impacts of local warming.

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

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.

Recovery of fruit-feeding butterfly communities in Budongo Forest Reserve after anthropogenic disturbance

Understanding of how biodiversity can recover after anthropogenic disturbances, such as selective logging, is important for planning conservation strategies for tropical forests and for more sustainable timber harvest regimes. However, the knowledge of insect community compositions in regenerating logged forests is still limited, especially in the Afrotropics. Here, we evaluated the recovery patterns of fruit-feeding butterfly communities in four different-aged secondary forest compartments and one primary forest compartment in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve, Uganda. In each compartment, butterflies were sampled monthly for five consecutive months in 2017 using traps baited with fermented bananas. A total of 3,778 individuals, representing 82 species (78 identified at the species level and four morphogroups) were recorded. The fruit-feeding butterfly community composition differed among forest compartments and study months. Fruit-feeding butterfly communities of the oldest 72-year-old secondary forest compartment were similar to the primary forest compartment. In the younger secondary forest compartments the seasonal variation was large; especially the communities of the “core” rainy season months were distinct from the communities in primary and oldest secondary forest. The majority of individuals captured from both primary and secondary forests represented forest-dependent species. Primary forests are irreplaceable for preserving the diversity of tropical forests in the long-term. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates that selective logging can allow fruit-feeding butterfly community composition to recover if enough time (>70 years) is allowed for recovery.

Changes in conservation value from grasslands to savannas to forests: How a temperate canopy cover gradient affects butterfly community composition.

Temperate savannas and grasslands are globally threatened. In the Midwest United States of America (USA), for example, oak savannas persist today at a small percentage of recent historic coverage. Therefore, restoration of habitats of low and intermediate canopy cover is a landscape conservation priority that often emphasizes returning tree density to a savanna-like target value. Understanding how animal species react to such changes in vegetation structure is important for assessing the value of these restoration plans. We examined how butterfly community attributes in northwest Indiana USA, including community composition, richness, and abundance responded to a grassland-to-forest gradient of canopy cover. Butterfly community composition under intermediate canopy cover differed significantly from community composition in the most open or closed-canopy habitats. Composition of the plant community in flower was a significant predictor of three assessed attributes of the butterfly community—composition, richness, and abundance. Phenology, expressed as day-of-the-year, was also a strong predictor of these butterfly community attributes. Few butterfly species were habitat specialists as adults although canopy cover was a more important predictor of adult community composition than of richness or abundance of butterflies. Therefore, adult butterfly community differences along the canopy cover gradient were less about butterfly communities filled with habitat specialists for different canopy-defined habitats and more about gradual changes in community composition along this gradient. Overall, butterfly community richness was predicted to peak at about 34% canopy cover, butterfly abundance at about 53% canopy cover, community conservation value at about 59% canopy cover, and a combination of desirable conservation attributes–high diversity, high abundance, and high conservation value–was predicted to reach a peak of co-occurrence at about 67% canopy cover suggesting that habitats of intermediate canopy cover might be particularly effective for butterfly conservation in this region.

Variation in grazing management practices supports diverse butterfly communities across grassland working landscapes

Landscape changes and resource exploitation have driven global biodiversity declines and reduced provision of ecological functions and services. In grassland working landscapes managed for ecological services and livestock production, it is essential to understand the influence of grazing practices on biodiversity to guide conservation. We used grassland butterflies to investigate the effects of four grazing management practices on biodiversity and pollination services from 2015 to 2016. We hypothesized grazing management practices would generate differing floristic resources that would thereby influence grassland butterfly community composition. To address our hypothesis, we sampled floral resources using belt transects and butterfly community and species level dynamics using line-transect distance sampling. We detected 2578 butterflies representing 34 species. Management practice was not a significant predictor of floral (p = 0.319) or butterfly community composition (p = 0.604), and sites under the same management showed dissimilarity in ordination space, indicating differences that may not be associated with grazing practices. At the species level, management explained density for six of nine butterfly species, but no individual management practice was optimal for a majority of detected species. Thus, over the timeframe of this study, grazing management practices did not generate differences in floristic community composition to drive community-level responses in grassland butterflies. Rather, management drove differences in individual species’ abundance within the butterfly community, likely contributing to the butterfly diversity observed at a broader scale.

Diversidad de mariposas diurnas (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) asociadas a un agroecosistema cafetero de sombra (Curití, Santander)

Los cultivos de café de sombra generan ambientes similares a los ecosistemas de montaña en comparación con los monocultivos de café expuestos al sol. Aunque las mariposas se consideran bioindicadoras del estado de salud del ecosistema se desconoce su diversidad en sistemas cafeteros de Santander, donde el café se siembra exclusivamente bajo sombra. Se describe la estructura y composición del ensamblaje de mariposas (Papilionoidea) en un cafetal con sombrío (hacienda La Capellanía, Curití, Santander) a 1.756 m (agosto-septiembre, 2014). En tres transectos paralelos de 50 m dentro del cultivo se ubicaron nueve trampas Van Someren-Rydon cebadas con fruta descompuesta, y especímenes adicionales fueron capturados con red entomológica. La representatividad del muestreo (Ecuación de Clench) fue 81,67 %. Se capturaron 341 individuos de 49 especies de las familias Nymphalidae (S = 39), Pieridae (S = 7), Papilionidae (S = 2) y Lycaenidae (S = 1). Las especies más abundantes fueron Cissia pompilia, Graphita griphe y Hermeuptychia harmonia. Se describió la riqueza (α =16), dominancia (D = 0,07), equidad (J´= 0,81) y los números efectivos de especies (°D = 58,8, 1D= 23,73 y 2D = 14,2 6). Se relacionó la estructura vegetal con la composición de mariposas (análisis de correspondencia canónica). El porcentaje de cobertura arbórea, la altura, el DAP y la cantidad de los árboles explicaron significativamente la abundancia de mariposas. Este estudio es de los pioneros en describir la diversidad de mariposas en cafetales con sombrío del departamento del Santander. Los agroecosistemas cafeterosde sombra tradicional pueden beneficiar la diversidad de mariposas, debido a que la heterogeneidad de su estructura vegetal ofrece mayor disponibilidad de recursos y refugio.

Diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a mountaintop archipelago of rainforest.

We provide the first description of the effects of local vegetation and landscape structure on the fruit-feeding butterfly community of a natural archipelago of montane rainforest islands in the Serra do Espinhaço, southeastern Brazil. Butterflies were collected with bait traps in eleven forest islands through both dry and rainy seasons for two consecutive years. The influence of local and landscape parameters and seasonality on butterfly species richness, abundance and composition were analyzed. We also examined the partitioning and decomposition of temporal and spatial beta diversity. Five hundred and twelve fruit-feeding butterflies belonging to thirty-four species were recorded. Butterfly species richness and abundance were higher on islands with greater canopy openness in the dry season. On the other hand, islands with greater understory coverage hosted higher species richness in the rainy season. Instead, the butterfly species richness was higher with lower understory coverage in the dry season. Butterfly abundance was not influenced by understory cover. The landscape metrics of area and isolation had no effect on species richness and abundance. The composition of butterfly communities in the forest islands was not randomly structured. The butterfly communities were dependent on local and landscape effects, and the mechanism of turnover was the main source of variation in β diversity. The preservation of this mountain rainforest island complex is vital for the maintenance of fruit-feeding butterfly community; one island does not reflect the diversity found in the whole archipelago.

Pluralism in grassland management promotes butterfly diversity in a large Central European conservation area

Extensively harvested grassland ecosystems contribute substantially to European biodiversity, but different kinds of grassland usage may selectively foster individual taxa. A combination of management options may offer a promising way to maximize biodiversity at the landscape scale. Here, we test this hypothesis based on 91 butterfly samples taken in the years 2013–2015 in differently managed areas within a large conservation area, the National Park Neusiedler See/Seewinkel in eastern-most Austria. Altogether, we recorded 4713 butterfly individuals of 35 species. Based on these records, we show that the parallelism of three management options, i.e. pasturing by mobile cattle herds, annual hay cut in early summer, and fallow land mulched in late summer, increase species diversity of butterflies and burnet moths in the regional meta-community. Even though spatial distances between our sample sites were small compared to the activity ranges of adult butterflies, we found that species composition of butterfly and burnet assemblages significantly differed between the three management options, indicating that assemblages were shaped by factors at the site level. Differences in species composition were stable across three consecutive years, even though there was annual variation in butterfly assemblages. Other tested co-variables (soil moisture, soil nitrogen, abundance of nectar flowers and local plant species richness) did not additionally contribute to explaining species composition of butterfly communities. We conclude that maintaining a combination of three complementary management options is indeed a relevant strategy for biodiversity preservation in this internationally renowned conservation area.

The successional pathway of the tree community and how it shapes the fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Afrotropical forest

Abstract:The relative importance of different bottom-up-mediated effects in shaping insect communities in tropical secondary forests are poorly understood. Here, we explore the roles of vegetation structure, forest age, local topography (valley vs. hill top) and soil variables in predicting fruit-feeding butterfly and tree community composition, and tree community composition in predicting fruit-feeding butterfly community composition, in different-aged naturally regenerating and primary forests of Kibale National Park, Uganda. We also examine which variables are best predictors of fruit-feeding butterfly species richness or diversity. Butterflies (88 species) were sampled with a banana-baited trap and trees (98 taxa) with a 40 × 20-m sampling plot at 80 sampling sites. The environmental variables explained 31% of the variation in the tree community composition, the best predictors being local topography, forest age and cover of Acanthus pubescens (a shrub possibly arresting succession). The fruit-feeding butterfly community composition was better predicted by tree community composition (explaining 10% of the variation) rather than vegetation structure, local topography or soil factors. Environmental variables and tree species richness (or diversity) were poor predictors of butterfly species richness (or diversity). Our results emphasize the importance of tree community to recovery of herbivorous insect communities in tropical secondary forests.

Woodland habitat quality prevails over fragmentation for shaping butterfly diversity in deciduous forest remnants

The effects of forest fragmentation on biodiversity can be partitioned into habitat loss and increased isolation of habitat fragments. Habitat quality may however prevail over the effects of fragment area and isolation, especially for mobile animals such as butterflies. To test this hypothesis we surveyed butterfly communities in 36 deciduous forest fragments embedded in a conifer plantation matrix, along two orthogonal gradients of fragment area and isolation. We also sampled eight deciduous riparian forests to compare the complete pool of forest butterflies, expected to be found in riparian forests, to the composition of deciduous fragments. We quantified the effects of deciduous woodland area, isolation and quality on total and forest butterfly richness, community composition and several Community-Weighted Mean traits known to mediate butterfly responses to habitat fragmentation. For the 36 fragments, forest butterfly richness and community composition were not affected by fragment area or isolation but by habitat quality, especially host-plant composition. Riparian forests had higher forest butterfly richness and hosted more habitat specialists, with higher sensitivity to temperature extremes, than deciduous forest remnants. We thus provide new evidence that habitat quality can prevail over fragment area and isolation in shaping the composition of butterfly communities in mosaic landscapes.

Tree community composition and vegetation structure predict butterfly community recovery in a restored Afrotropical rain forest

Anthropogenic disturbances have led to a dramatic loss of biodiversity in the tropics. Habitat restoration can mitigate biodiversity loss but studies describing insect community recovery during tropical forest restoration are limited in Africa. Our aim was to compare the predictive power of tree community composition versus vegetation structure for butterfly community composition during tropical rain forest restoration. A fruit-feeding butterfly dataset from two primary and six restored forest areas of Kibale National Park (Uganda) was used. At the same sites, the tree community composition and six variables describing the vegetation structure, namely; (1) total stem density per hectare; (2) tree canopy cover; (3) elephant grass cover; (4) “other grass” cover; (5) shrub cover; and (6) herb cover, were sampled. Co-correspondence analysis and canonical correspondence analysis were used to predict butterfly community composition from tree community composition or vegetation structure, respectively. Both tree community composition and vegetation structure predicted butterfly community equally well. We also found a corresponding successional gradient of butterfly and tree communities, associated with the age of the forest since restoration started. Most butterfly species had their peak abundance (optima) in the late successional or primary forests, while most tree species had their optima in primary forests. Elephant grass cover and tree canopy cover were the most important predictors of the butterfly community composition. Our results demonstrate how tropical forest restoration can ignite successional changes in tree communities and vegetation structure, which in turn restructure the animal communities, according to resource availability and species-specific habitat requirements.

Configurational landscape heterogeneity shapes functional community composition of grassland butterflies

Summary Landscape heterogeneity represents two aspects of landscape simplification: (i) compositional heterogeneity (diversity of habitat types); and (ii) configurational heterogeneity (number, size and arrangement of habitat patches), both with different ecological implications for community composition. We examined how independent gradients of compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity, at eight spatial scales, shape taxonomic and functional composition of butterfly communities in 91 managed grasslands across Germany. We used landscape metrics that were calculated from functional maps based on habitat preferences of individual species during different life stages. The relative effects of compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity were compared with those of local land‐use intensity on butterfly taxonomic diversity, community composition and functional diversity of traits related to body size, feeding breadth and migratory tendency. As expected, compositional heterogeneity had strong positive effects on taxonomic diversity, while configurational heterogeneity had strong positive effects on trait dominance within the community. When landscapes had smaller mean patch size and greater boundary area, communities were dominated by species with more specialized larval feeding, decreased forewing length and limited migratory tendency. The positive effects of increased configurational landscape heterogeneity outweighed the negative effects of local land‐use intensity on larval‐feeding specialization, at all spatial scales, highlighting its importance for specialists of all dispersal capabilities. Synthesis and applications. We show that landscapes with high compositional heterogeneity support communities with greater taxonomic diversity, while landscapes with high configurational heterogeneity support communities that include vulnerable species (feeding specialists with larger body size, sedentary nature and more negatively affected by local management intensity). A decline in functional community composition can lead to functional homogenization, affecting the viability of the ecosystems by decreasing the variability in their responses to disturbance and altering their functioning. A landscape management for grasslands that promotes the maintenance of small patch sizes and a diversity of land uses in the surrounding landscape (within 250–1000 m) is recommended for the conservation of diverse butterfly communities. These strategies could also benefit government programmes such as the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy in their efforts to reduce the loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Effects of Management Techniques on Grassland Butterfly Species Composition and Community Structure

Semi-natural grasslands are a crucial habitat for many butterfly species and the structure and extent of that grassland often dictates the composition of butterfly communities on the landscape. To understand effects on butterfly communities, we studied the impacts of different management schemes used to maintain semi-natural grasslands, including mowing every 3 y, mowing annually, and continuous summertime grazing. Transect count data were gathered over the 3 summers (2007–2009) in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia and North Carolina. Eleven thousand two hundred and four butterfly individuals of 42 different species were documented over the course of the study. Fields with minimal management, being mowed only once every 3 y, had the largest benefit to butterfly communities. Species richness, abundance, and Shannon diversity was significantly higher in these fields. While abundance was not significantly different between annually mowed fields and grazed fields, mowed fields were significantly higher in richness and diversity. The analysis of habitat specialist species revealed minimally managed and mowed fields were higher in abundance and richness than grazed fields. The response of individual butterfly species also showed negative effects of grazing on habitat specialists. Overall, the results suggest a varying response by different groups of species as well as individual species, indicating multiple management techniques are necessary for conserving a wide range of species. Specific techniques can be used in conservation to target specialist groups of butterflies and rare species.