Temporal abundance patterns of butterfly communities (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Ecuadorian Amazonia and their relationship with climate

Tropical insects show temporal changes in their abundance and climate is one of the most influential factors. For tropical butterflies, few studies have quantified this relationship or analyzed changes in community composition and structure throughout time. Communities of butterflies attracted to rotting-carrion bait in one area of the Yasuni National Park, in Ecuadorian Amazonia were examined for these relationships. Butterfly communities in three different strata of the forest were sampled over 13 months using traps with rotten shrimp bait. In total, 9236 individuals of 208 species were collected between April 2002 and April 2003. The composition and structure of butterfly communities showed significant variation during the survey with a constant replacement of species throughout the year. Additionally, these communities had the highest species richness and abundance during the months with high temperatures and intermediate precipitation. Despite relatively low variation, temperature was the most significant climatic factor explaining differences in butterfly richness and abundance throughout the year. This significant response of butterfly communities to slight temperature variations reinforce the need of temporal studies to better predict how tropical butterfly populations will respond to predicted climate change.