Significant decrease in local butterfly community during the last 15 years in a calcareous hill of the middle Korea |
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| Authors: | Sei‐Woong Choi Sung‐Soo Kim Tae‐Sung Kwon Haechul Park |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University, Chungkye‐myon, Muan‐gun, Jeonnam;2. Research Institute for East Asian Environment and Biology, Amsa‐dong, Sungdong‐gu, Seoul;3. Division of Forest Insect Pests & Diseases, National Institute of Forest Science, Dongdaemun‐gu, Seoul;4. Applied Entomology Division, Department of Agricultural Biology, National Institute of Agricultural Science, Jeonju, South Korea |
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| Abstract: | Recently the significant decreases of species richness and abundance among terrestrial animals including butterflies are reported due to habitat change, overexploitation, and global warming. We compared the butterfly species composition and abundance from 1999 and 2014–2015 in a calcareous hill site of the middle part of Korea using a line transect method. There was a significant decrease in the number of individuals (abundance) and the number of species (richness) from 1999 to 2014–2015. This decrease was more prevalent among northern species than southern species, and the local extinct species were more prevalent among northern species, showing the influence of global warming on butterfly assemblages. However, no impact of habitat change was observed because of maintenance of the grasslands, which is caused by the dry soils of the calcareous region. |
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| Keywords: | abundance butterfly calcareous ecosystem global warming habitat change richness |
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