Local and landscape level variables influence butterfly diversity in critically endangered South African renosterveld

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Severe losses in biodiversity hotspots reduce global insect diversity. Renosterveld is a critically endangered and biologically diverse ecosystem occurring only in the fynbos biome of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), a recognized global biodiversity hotspot. Following agricultural intensification, less than 5% natural renosterveld vegetation remains in the Swartland of South Africa’s Western Cape. Remaining renosterveld is highly fragmented and confined to land less suited to agriculture, including steep slopes and rocky outcrops. These fragments vary in their environmental conditions at the local (e.g. microhabitat, floral diversity and density) and the landscape (e.g. patch size, habitat connectivity and surrounding crop cover) level. The influence of these environmental variables on butterfly diversity at a landscape scale in the CFR is not fully understood. We selected 32 sites across the Swartland and surveyed for butterflies to determine the effect of environmental variables on butterfly diversity, specifically butterfly species richness, abundance and composition. Overall, we found 2861 individuals of 27 species. Our findings suggest that crop cover in the surrounding landscape affects butterfly diversity at a small landscape scale (< 500 m radius) in the CFR. Flower species richness and microhabitat type impact species richness and abundance. Patch size is a key predictor of species diversity particularly for endemics and site quality may influence species composition. All renosterveld patches regardless of size and site quality can be considered valuable for butterflies in this highly fragmented landscape.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftJournal of Insect Conservation
Jahrgang23
Ausgabenummer2
Seiten (von - bis)225-237
Anzahl der Seiten13
ISSN1366-638X
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 15.04.2019

    Fachgebiete

  • Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft - Agricultural intensification, Biodiversity hotspot, Cape Floristic Region, Fragmentation, Lepidoptera, Viticulture
  • Ökosystemforschung - Agricultural intensification, Biodiversity hotspot, Cape Floristic Region, Fragmentation, Lepidoptera, Viticulture

Zugehörige Projekte

  • Ein Biodiversitäts-Hotspot begegnet der Intensivierung des Weinbaus: Die Rolle von Fynbos Überbleibseln für den Schutz von Pflanzen und Schmetterlingen.

    Projekt: Forschung

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Sonderbetriebsvermögen II bei Personengesellschaften (Kommentierung des BFH-Urteils vom 10.06.1999, IV R 21/98), Fach 3 EStG, § 15
  2. “Processed Food on the Urban Data Highway. Food Delivery Services as In_Visible Infrastructure in the Production of Urbanity”
  3. Das internationale Seminar "Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung und Biodiversität" in Ecuador - ein Ort Globalen Lernens?
  4. Arendt i Kant: ravnopravni drugi i “prosireni nacin misljenja“ (Arendt and Kant: the Equal Others and an “Extended Way of Thinking”)
  5. Rechtspopulistische Parteien und diskursive Möglichkeiten während Covid-19. Populistische Schuldzuweisungen in Zeiten der Krise
  6. A direct test of the similarity assumption — Focusing on differences as compared with similarities decreases automatic imitation
  7. J.N. Mohanty: Phenomenology. Between Essentialism and Transcendental Philosophy, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press 1997
  8. Reducing the peaking phenomenon in Luenberger observers in presence of quasi-static disturbances for linear time invariant systems
  9. Simulation des Selektionsdrucks der Antibiotika Ciprofloxacin und Ceftazidim in Oberflächengewässern mittels klassischer Methoden
  10. Information Literacy - Pseudowissenschaft und digitale (Des-)Informataion bei den Themen 'Klimawandel', 'Clean Coal' und 'Stickoxidgrenzwerte'
  11. „Das muss nicht besonders künstlerisch wertvoll sein“ – Praktiken der Vereindeutigung von Mehrdeutigkeit im inklusiven Fachunterricht
  12. Lyapunov Convergence Analysis for Asymptotic Tracking Using Forward and Backward Euler Approximation of Discrete Differential Equations