Diversity and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies in tropical Eucalyptus plantations

Barlow, Jos, Araujo, Ivanei S., Overal, William L., Gardner, Toby A., Silva Mendes, Fernanda, Lake, Iain R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4407-5357 and Peres, Carlos A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765 (2008) Diversity and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies in tropical Eucalyptus plantations. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17 (5). pp. 1089-1104. ISSN 0960-3115

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Abstract

Production landscapes are rarely considered as priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the tropics. Tree plantations have the potential to provide a conservation service in much of the humid tropics since they are rapidly increasing in extent and present less of a structural contrast with native vegetation than many more intensive agricultural land-uses. We used hierarchical partitioning to examine the factors that influence the value of large-scale Eucalyptus plantations for tropical fruit-feeding butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Brazilian Amazon. We focused on evaluating the importance of landscape versus stand-level factors in determining the diversity and composition of butterfly assemblages, and how butterfly-environment relationships vary within and between subfamilies of Nymphalidae. Native understorey vegetation richness had the strongest independent effect on the richness, abundance and composition of all fruit-feeding butterflies, as well as a subset of species that had been recorded in nearby primary forests. However, overall patterns were strongly influenced by the most abundant subfamily (Satyrinae), and vegetation richness was not related to the abundance of any other subfamily, or non-Satyrinae species, highlighting the importance of disaggregating the fruit-feeding Nymphalidae when examining butterfly-environment relationships. Our results suggest that plantations can help conserve a limited number of forest species, and serve to highlight the research that is necessary to understand better the relationship between fruit-feeding butterflies and environmental variables that are amenable to management.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 15 - life on land ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_on_land
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Depositing User: Rhiannon Harvey
Date Deposited: 28 Mar 2012 14:29
Last Modified: 15 Jun 2023 23:55
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/38581
DOI: 10.1007/s10531-007-9240-0

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