Pattern of land mosaics affecting butterfly assemblage at Mt Ikoma, Osaka, Japan

Abstract

We studied the effects of habitat mosaics on butterfly assemblage on multiple spatial scales: landscape, landscape element, local habitat, and microhabitat, based on the transect counts conducted along a 3.84 km route. The transect route, including 21 local habitats, passed through two distinct areas: 1.65 km of a secondary deciduous Quercus forest and the grove of a shrine in Hiraoka, and 2.19 km of a mosaic of secondary deciduous Quercus forest, grassland, and farmland in Narukawa. The diversity of the landscape elements and species richness were higher in Narukawa than in Hiraoka; the landscape mosaic enhanced the species richness in Narukawa. However, the diversity indices and specialist species (univoltine tree feeder) were decreased in this mosaic landscape. The species richness at local habitats was also increased by the mosaic of microhabitats, such as the herbaceous layer, glade, and mantle in the local habitats, whereas it was decreased by an abundant shrub layer. The ratios of species richness to abundance in the local habitats were lower than expected based on random sampling from the total of Hiraoka and Narukawa. This means that local assemblages were non‐random samples from an assemblage on the landscape or regional scale, and were made up by the process of habitat selection of butterfly species in the assemblages on the landscape or regional scale. For conservation of butterfly assemblages, we recommend that woodlands should be kept without fragmentation, but with glades or small grasslands, and with clearance of the shrub layer along the path.

Butterfly assemblages in a traditional agricultural landscape: importance of secondary forests for conserving diversity, life history specialists and endemics

“…Moreover, forest interior species are usually conspicuous because they fly when human approach. Canopy species (hairstreaks) and forest interior species (bamboo grass feeders) sometimes become abundant in the forest-dominant areas (Ishii et al 1995;Natuhara et al 1999). Accordingly, excluding fritillaries, we believe that the bias of the counts across species would not be so large, and that our result of relative abundance of each species would reflect the rough characteristics of this area.…”

“…Natuhara et al (1999) compared butterfly diversity in two satoyama landscapes, i.e., the heterogeneous landscape with the same proportion of secondary forests and openlands vs. the simple landscape dominated by secondary forests, and reported that the former had more butterfly species despite loss of some univoltine tree-feeding species. However, as vegetation association of each butterfly species in satoyama have not been analyzed, the relative contribution of each vegetation type to butterfly diversity has been unclear.…”

Seasonal fluctuations in butterflies and nectar resources in a semi-natural grassland near Mt. Fuji, central Japan

“…Previous reports have suggested that landscape heterogeneity is important for butterfly diversity and species composition (Weibull et al 2000;Hamer et al 2003). Natuhara et al (1999) showed that a landscape mosaic of secondary Quercus forest, grassland and farmland enhanced the species richness of butterflies. Our study site encompassed managed grasslands including different treatments and Abandoned grasslands of various ages within a semi-natural grassland, creating a mosaic of different vegetation in various seral stages, which supports successive flowering through the growing season.…”

The effects of forest destruction on the abundance, species richness and diversity of butterflies in the Bosomkese Forest Reserve, Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana

“…In contrasts, their absence may reflect declining health (Larson and Collins, 1998). The influence of landscape patterns on butterfly communities have been documented by different authors (Schneider et al, 2003., Natuhara et al, 1999. Sparks and Carey (1995) observed an influence of the floral composition on butterfly diversity.…”