Land-use change differentially affects endemic, forest andopen-land butterflies in Madagascar
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
Authors
The conversion of tropical forests into agriculture reduces biodiversity dramatically. However, species might differ in their responses, depending on their habitat specialisation and geographic origin. In this study, we assess how butterfly assemblages differ between old-growth forests, forest fragments, forest-derived vanilla agroforests, fallow-derived vanilla agroforests, woody fallows, herbaceous fallows, and rice paddies in Madagascar. We recorded 88 butterfly species, of which 65 species are endemic to Madagascar. Land-use types with woody vegetation sustained many endemic (mean: 6.8 species) and forest butterfly species (mean: 4.8 species). Rice paddies and herbaceous fallows were richer in open-land species (mean: 7.6 species) and poorer in forest species (mean: 1.7 species) compared to other land-use types. Compared to herbaceous fallows, fallow-derived vanilla agroforests hosted more endemic (+164%) and forest (+239%) species. Richness of open-land species in forest-derived vanilla agroforests was six times higher than in forest fragments. Overall, 27% of species occurred exclusively in one land-use type and 19% of all species when old-growth forests were excluded. We found the highest number of exclusive species in forest-derived vanilla agroforests. We conclude that all studied land-use types contribute to butterfly conservation in our study region. Especially the woody vegetation in forest fragments, vanilla agroforests, and woody fallows supports a high butterfly diversity and is pivotal for maintaining a broad diversity of forest butterflies in the agricultural matrix. Our study highlights the importance of preserving the diversity of small-scale land-use types, including agroforestry, forests and fallow land in this tropical biodiversity hotspot.
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Zeitschrift | Insect Conservation and Diversity |
| Jahrgang | 15 |
| Ausgabenummer | 5 |
| Seiten (von - bis) | 606-620 |
| Anzahl der Seiten | 15 |
| ISSN | 1752-458X |
| DOIs | |
| Publikationsstatus | Erschienen - 01.09.2022 |
Bibliographische Notiz
Funding Information:
The authors thank all village leaders and all plot owners for supporting our research. The authors thank Jean Chrysostome Bevao, Gatien Rasolofonirina, Estelle Raveloaritiana, Dominik Schwab and our Marojejy NP guides Desirée Razafimahatratra and Ferdinand Benaviana who contributed to the data collection. The authors are grateful to Brigitte Jünemann and Fabian Osten for their support in sorting butterflies. The authors thank Madagascar National Parks and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development for granting us access to sites and allowing us the export of samples. The authors collected data under the research permits N°100/17/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re, N°163/17/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re, N°18/18/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re, and N°254/18/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re. The authors acknowledge Victor Razafindranaivo for his support during the application for export permits. This study was financially supported by the Niedersächsisches Vorab of Volkswagen Foundation as part of the research project ‘Diversity Turn in Land Use Science’ [Grant number 11‐76251‐99‐35/13 (ZN3119)]. Anjaharinony Andry Ny Aina Rakotomala was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) within the ‘Partnerships for Supporting Biodiversity in Developing Countries’ initiative (Project Nr. 57449386). Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
Funding Information:
The authors thank all village leaders and all plot owners for supporting our research. The authors thank Jean Chrysostome Bevao, Gatien Rasolofonirina, Estelle Raveloaritiana, Dominik Schwab and our Marojejy NP guides Desirée Razafimahatratra and Ferdinand Benaviana who contributed to the data collection. The authors are grateful to Brigitte Jünemann and Fabian Osten for their support in sorting butterflies. The authors thank Madagascar National Parks and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development for granting us access to sites and allowing us the export of samples. The authors collected data under the research permits N°100/17/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re, N°163/17/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re, N°18/18/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re, and N°254/18/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re. The authors acknowledge Victor Razafindranaivo for his support during the application for export permits. This study was financially supported by the Niedersächsisches Vorab of Volkswagen Foundation as part of the research project ‘Diversity Turn in Land Use Science’ [Grant number 11-76251-99-35/13 (ZN3119)]. Anjaharinony Andry Ny Aina Rakotomala was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) within the ‘Partnerships for Supporting Biodiversity in Developing Countries’ initiative (Project Nr. 57449386). Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Insect Conservation and Diversity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Entomological Society.
- Ökosystemforschung - endemism, habitat dependency, habitat specialisation, lepidoptera, shifting cultivation, smallholderagricultural landscape, species origin, traits, vanilla agroforestry