Structural complexity of ecological networks facilitate the functional robustness of natural ecosystems. Threatened by the human actions such as habitat destruction and climate change, species may be more or less prone to ecological perturbations depending on the nature of their interactions. We examined the host network of tropical butterflies from the Indian region to see their level of interconnectedness. We manually curated larval host utilization data for 1053 butterflies of India. About 98.8% of species that occur pan-India and 90.6% of species exclusive to the Western Ghats had known hosts whereas it was only 25.9% for species exclusive to north-east India. There were 2589 unique butterfly-host interactions comprising 519 butterfly species and their 1091 known hosts. However, nearly 30% of the species had only single hosts. The Fabaceae and Poaceae were the key host families that accounted for 32.8% of the interactions. There were clear host preferences and monocots hosted disproportionately more butterfly species and interactions. Vanessa cardui had at least 39 known hosts while Ochlandra travancorica supported 19 butterfly species. There were 2693 species-pairs and 4226 interactions among 469 butterflies due to shared hosts. Many butterfly species that have relatively few/unique hosts might be vulnerable in the context of habitat destruction and climate change. This work has great relevance to the ecology and conservation of butterflies in India.
We present an additional four new larval host plants of four butterfly species in three families from the southwest part of the Western Ghats region located in Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka State. These updated new records are in addition to the known host plants of the Western Ghats.
Long-term socioeconomic progress requires a healthy environment/ecosystem, but anthropogenic activities cause environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Constant ecological monitoring is therefore necessary to assess the state of biodiversity and ecological health. However, baseline data is lacking even for ecologically sensitive regions such as the Western Ghats. We looked at the seasonality and polyphenism of butterflies of the central Western Ghats to get baseline population patterns on these charismatic taxa. We recorded 43118 individuals (175 species) using fortnightly time-constrained counts for two consecutive years, and found the peak abundance (49% of the total individuals) in post-monsoon period (Oct to Jan). The seasonal abundance was correlated with the overall increase in species richness.Habitat differences were stronger than seasonality as samples clustered based on sites. Several species also displayed polyphenism with distinct distributions of wet and dry season forms.Seasonal equitability and indicator species analysis showed distinct inter-species differences in seasonality patterns. This work provides key baseline data on the seasonal dynamics of butterflies of the Western Ghats in the context of climate change and conservation, and will help in future monitoring of this ecologically sensitive region using butterflies.
Long-term socioeconomic progress requires a healthy environment/ecosystem, but anthropogenic activities cause environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Constant ecological monitoring is therefore necessary to assess the state of biodiversity and ecological health. However, baseline data is lacking even for ecologically sensitive regions such as the Western Ghats. We looked at the seasonality and polyphenism of butterflies of the central Western Ghats to get baseline population patterns on these charismatic taxa. We recorded 43118 individuals (175 species) using fortnightly time-constrained counts for two consecutive years, and found the peak abundance (49% of the total individuals) in post-monsoon period (Oct to Jan). The seasonal abundance was correlated with the overall increase in species richness. Habitat differences were stronger than seasonality as samples clustered based on sites. Several species also displayed polyphenism with distinct distributions of wet and dry season forms. Seasonal equitability and indicator species analysis showed distinct inter-species differences in seasonality patterns. This work provides key baseline data on the seasonal dynamics of butterflies of the Western Ghats in the context of climate change and conservation, and will help in future monitoring of this ecologically sensitive region using butterflies.
In a preliminary study on the butterflies of Dakshina Kannada District, located in the southwestern part of the Karnataka along the Western Ghats in Karnataka State in India, a total of 172 species of butterflies belonging to 117 genera, from six families was prepared by visiting various landscapes during the period September 2012 to December 2015. Of the various species recorded, Papilio clytia (Linnaeus), Papilio lio medon (Moore), Pachlio ptahector (Linnaeus), Castalius rosimon (Fabricius), Acytolepis puspa (Horsefield), Lethe europa (Fabricius), Neptis jumbah (Moore), Dophlae velina (Stoll), Hypolimnas misippus (Linnaeus) and Doleschallia bisaltide (Cramer) comes under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The present study provides the baseline data of butterfly species of Dakshina Kannada.
The study of the avifaunal diversity was carried out in the Mangalore University campus, located in Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka from 2013 to 2021, in and around the campus. A total of 150 bird species belonging to 18 orders and 56 families were recorded during the study. Out of these, the study area supports five species which are endemic to the Western Ghats. The feeding guild analysis revealed that the insectivorous group had the highest number of species (53 species). The study provides baseline data for monitoring the avifauna in the campus and demonstrates the importance of the area in bird conservation.
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