Maximized sampling of butterflies to detect temporal changes in tropical communities

Author(s)

Iserhard, Cristiano Agra ^{[1, 2]} ; Brown, Jr., Keith Spalding ^{[1, 2]} ; Lucci Freitas, Andre Victor ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Anim, Inst Biol, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Museu Zool, Inst Biol, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF INSECT CONSERVATION; v. 17, n. 3, p. 615-622, JUN 2013.
• Web of Science Citations: 10

Abstract

There are few papers describing long-term fluctuations and general patterns of temporal diversity in butterfly assemblages in the Neotropical region. The present paper presents a long-term study on the variation in richness and composition of butterflies in a fragment of semi-deciduous forest in Southeastern Brazil, and examines the viability of using maximized butterfly transect counts as a methodology to rapidly and adequately access the local characteristics of butterfly communities. Based on the eight annual standard lists, 518 species in six butterfly families were recorded, representing 74 % of the total butterfly fauna known from the study site. Hesperiidae was the richest family (248 species), followed by Nymphalidae (154), Lycaenidae (49), Riodinidae (29), Pieridae (26), and Papilionidae (12). The accumulation curves show that 8 years of sampling were not enough to result in stable species totals for all butterfly families, especially Hesperiidae and Lycaenidae, which are still increasing in number of species. A great similarity in species composition was observed among all the years (54 %). Comparing the similarity between two standard lists at different time intervals (from 1 to 8 years), a clear pattern of increasing dissimilarity was observed in most families. Our results show that the maximized sampling method is effective in revealing temporal patterns of diversity across several years and could be valuable in monitoring temporal variation in butterfly assemblages for conservation purposes, since the obtained standard lists can be successfully compared to temporal patterns over large periods of time. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/08433-8 - Diversity patterns and phylogenetic structure of butterfly communities in the Atlantic Forest
• Grantee: Cristiano Agra Iserhard
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 11/50225-3 - Natural history, phylogeny and conservation of Neotropical Lepidoptera
• Grantee: André Victor Lucci Freitas
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants