Effects of elevation gradient and aspect on butterfly diversity on Galičica Mountain in the Republic of Macedonia (south–eastern Europe)

Abstract

The patterns of butterfly diversity and community changes in relation to elevation are an interesting and well–covered topic in ecology, but the effects of aspect have rarely been evaluated. Here we studied the changes in butterfly species richness and communities along the elevation gradient and aspect of Galičica Mountain. As expected, species richness changed with altitude, showing a bimodal pattern with two peaks and a declining trend towards higher altitude. Changes were well–correlated with the area in each altitudinal zone, while the effects of productivity were less clear. Butterfly communities at higher altitudes were the most distinct when grouped according to β diversity estimates, followed by mid– and low–altitude communities. Indicator species were found in mid–altitudes and for the combination of low–mid and mid–high altitudes, but not among aspects. Overall, aspect produced a less conclusive effect on species richness and community composition. South and north accounted for most of these differences despite dominant western and eastern and exposition of the mountain slopes. The community temperature index declined with altitude and on the northern aspect, showing these areas hosted more cold–adapted species. Notes on butterfly conservation are provided as 23 species known from historical surveys have not been recorded recently. Data published through GBIF (Doi: 10.15470/jacl7y).

Biodiversity of butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) in Mountain Koritnik in the Republic of Kosovo

“…In general, the number of specimens and species decreases as the altitudinal gradient increases (Mihoci et al, 2011). The results of diversity analysis according to the altitudinal changes were consistent with findings from other studies (Meléndez-Jaramillo et al, 2019;Habel et al, 2019;Topp et al, 2019;Popović et al, 2021;Kaltsas et al, 2018). Several studies have indicated that altitude is a crucial factor that affects climate patterns and the variation in plant species, which in turn have a significant influence on the distribution of butterfly species (Eyre et al, 2005).…”

“…Koritnik in the Republic of Kosovo demonstrate a rich butterfly fauna, with 131 species recorded, accounting for 75.28% of the total number of species in Kosovo. This number of 131 recorded species makes up 75.2% of 174 species recorded so far in Kosovo (Rebel, 1913;Rebel & Zerny 1931;Jakšić & Živić, 1998;Zhushi-Etemi et al, 2016, 2017a, 2017bKoren et al, 2021;Kabashi-Kastrati et al, 2022) (Krpač et al, 2011;Popović et al, 2021), and 167 species in Stara Planina in Serbia (Popović et al, 2013;Langourov, 2019). Considering 496 butterfly species recorded in Europe (Wiemers et al, 2018), the 131 species recorded in our survey represent 26.14% of European butterfly fauna.…”

Mount Faifa, a local hotspot of butterfly diversity (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…Faifa, we have not expected such a pronounced altitudinal segregation of butterflies (Figure 4). Both a reduction of butterfly richness with altitude and a midelevation peak of richness, commonly observed in similar studies (Gallou et al 2017;Popović et al 2021), were evident on Mt. Faifa.…”

The effect of altitude on the butterfly diversity in the Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, West Java, Indonesia

“…Overall, butterflies and their diversity are stronger at lower elevations and gradually decline at higher elevations because floristic diversity declines when they rely on to survive and reproduce. Butterfly richness and abundance decline with altitudes, and species composition changes along the altitudes [34][35][36][37].…”