Diversity and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies in tropical <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus</Emphasis> plantations |
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Authors: | Jos Barlow Ivanei S Araujo William L Overal Toby A Gardner Fernanda da Silva Mendes Iain R Lake Carlos A Peres |
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Institution: | 1.Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi,Belem,Brazil;2.School of Biological Sciences,Lancaster University,Lancaster,UK;3.Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Environmental Sciences,University of East Anglia,Norwich,UK;4.Universidade Federal Rural da Amaz?nia,Belem,Brazil |
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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. |
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Keywords: | Amazon Biodiversity Brazil Conservation Hierarchical partitioning Species-environment relationships |
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