Changes in butterfly movements along a gradient of land use in farmlands of Transylvania (Romania)
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Changes in butterfly movements along a gradient of land use in farmlands of Transylvania (Romania). / Loos, Jacqueline; Kuussaari, Mikko; Ekroos, Johan et al.
In: Landscape Ecology, Vol. 30, No. 4, 04.2015, p. 625-635.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in butterfly movements along a gradient of land use in farmlands of Transylvania (Romania)
AU - Loos, Jacqueline
AU - Kuussaari, Mikko
AU - Ekroos, Johan
AU - Hanspach, Jan
AU - Fust, Pascal
AU - Jackson, Laurie
AU - Fischer, Joern
PY - 2015/4
Y1 - 2015/4
N2 - Context: Agricultural transformation and increased land use intensity often lead to simplified landscapes and biodiversity loss. For animals, one possible mechanism underpinning biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes is the disruption of movements. The disruption of movements may explain, for example, why butterfly communities in agricultural landscapes are often dominated by generalist species with high mobility.Objectives: Here, we investigated how the movement patterns of butterflies characterised by different levels of mobility changed along a gradient of agricultural land use intensity.Methods: To this end, we studied 15 landscapes in low-intensity farmland in Central Romania, measuring 10 ha each and covering a gradient of landscape heterogeneity and woody vegetation cover. In these landscapes, we tracked movements of 563 individuals of nine butterfly species.Results: Our findings showed that overall movement activities differed significantly between species, corresponding well with expert-derived estimates of species-specific mobility. Interestingly, species of low and high mobility responded in opposite ways to increasing levels of landscape heterogeneity. In relatively simple landscapes, the movement patterns of low and high mobility species were similar. By contrast, in complex landscapes, the flight paths of low-mobility species became shorter and more erratic, whereas the flight paths of high-mobility species became longer and straighter. An analysis of the land covers traversed showed that most species avoided arable land but favoured the more heterogeneous parts of a given landscape.Conclusions: In combination, our results suggest that non-arable patches in agricultural landscapes are important for butterfly movements, especially for low-mobility species.
AB - Context: Agricultural transformation and increased land use intensity often lead to simplified landscapes and biodiversity loss. For animals, one possible mechanism underpinning biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes is the disruption of movements. The disruption of movements may explain, for example, why butterfly communities in agricultural landscapes are often dominated by generalist species with high mobility.Objectives: Here, we investigated how the movement patterns of butterflies characterised by different levels of mobility changed along a gradient of agricultural land use intensity.Methods: To this end, we studied 15 landscapes in low-intensity farmland in Central Romania, measuring 10 ha each and covering a gradient of landscape heterogeneity and woody vegetation cover. In these landscapes, we tracked movements of 563 individuals of nine butterfly species.Results: Our findings showed that overall movement activities differed significantly between species, corresponding well with expert-derived estimates of species-specific mobility. Interestingly, species of low and high mobility responded in opposite ways to increasing levels of landscape heterogeneity. In relatively simple landscapes, the movement patterns of low and high mobility species were similar. By contrast, in complex landscapes, the flight paths of low-mobility species became shorter and more erratic, whereas the flight paths of high-mobility species became longer and straighter. An analysis of the land covers traversed showed that most species avoided arable land but favoured the more heterogeneous parts of a given landscape.Conclusions: In combination, our results suggest that non-arable patches in agricultural landscapes are important for butterfly movements, especially for low-mobility species.
KW - Dispersal
KW - Eastern Europe
KW - Ecological flows
KW - Farmland biodiversity
KW - Individual tracking
KW - Intensification
KW - Land use change
KW - Landscape functional grain
KW - Landscape heterogeneity
KW - Mobility
KW - Sustainability Science
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925496051&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10980-014-0141-9
DO - 10.1007/s10980-014-0141-9
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:84925496051
VL - 30
SP - 625
EP - 635
JO - Landscape Ecology
JF - Landscape Ecology
SN - 0921-2973
IS - 4
ER -