RRC ID 83029
Author Di Wang, Yifan Zhang, Liangzhi Lu, Sheng Li, Rongjiang Wang
Title Butterfly Diversity Patterns Provide New Insights Into Biodiversity Conservation in China
Journal Global Ecology and Biogeography
Abstract Aim:Globally, the knowledge of insect distributions is largely insufficient, and that hinders conservation actions against biodiversity loss. Focusing on butterfly diversity, we aimed to fill knowledge gaps and provide new insights into biodiversity conservation in China.
Location:China.
Time Period:Occurrence records from 1950 to 2023.
Major Taxa Studied:Butterflies, Lepidoptera.
Methods:We collected butterfly occurrence records from published literature, online databases and our butterfly specimens, and then used either species distribution models or expansion from actual occurrence sites to estimate species distribution ranges in China. We identified key environmental variables that are related to butterfly biodiversity patterns, and delineated priority conservation areas based on butterfly distributions.
Results:We report the first country‐wide inventory and mapping of China's 1920 butterfly species. The identified hotspots of species richness are distributed mainly in southwestern, southern and southeastern China. Among variables strongly correlated with species richness, the most important one is actual evapotranspiration. Conservation priority areas under the Convention on Biological Diversity 17% area target overlapped well with the hotspots, but only 29.8% of them are covered by existing nature reserves. When that protection target increases to 30%, the additional areas are located mainly in southern China, with its large cities and intensive agriculture.
Main Conclusions:We find that some protected butterfly species have a larger area of habitat than most species, implying that the list of protected butterflies in China should be revised. Urban and farmland landscapes may help sustain butterfly diversity and they should be considered in conservation planning.
Volume 34
Published 2024-12-13
DOI 10.1111/geb.13946
Resource
GBIF Butterfly Specimens of Yamaguchi Prefectural Yamaguchi Museum Insect specimens of Himeji City Science Museum Insect specimens of Otaru Museum Insect specimens of Kaizuka City Museum of Natural History Insect specimens of Rikuzen-Takata City Museum Insect specimens of Iwate Prefectural Museum Insect specimens of Toyota City Nature Sanctuary Insect specimens of Obihiro Centennial City Museum Insect specimens of Yonezawa Insectarium Entomological Specimens of Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo Pref., Japan Insect specimens of Sagamihara City Museum Insect specimens of Kushiro City Museum Akita Prefectural Museum, Insect Collection Insect Specimens Deposited in Saga Prefectural Space and Science Museum, JAPAN Insect Collection of Yokosuka City Museum Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science, Usuke Shiga butterfly collection Insect specimens of Oiso Municipal Museum Insect Collection of Saitama Museum of Natural History Ibaraki Nature Museum, Arthropoda collection Insect specimens of Kashihara City Museum of Insect Lepidoptera specimen database of Osaka Museum of Natural History Insect collection of Itami City Museum of Insects Zoological specimens of Gifu Prefectural Museum Insecta specimens of Okutama Visitor Center, Tokyo Insecta Specimens of Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum Gunma Museum of Natural History, Insect Specimen Insect Collection of Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba Insecta collection of Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka Lepidopterous specimens of Yamagata Prefectural Museum Insect specimens of Tokushima Prefectural Museum Records of flower visitors in Japanese crops Insecta specimens of Takao Visitor Center A crowdsourcing approach to collecting photo-based insect and plant observation records Insecta collection of Ishikawa Museum of Natural History (ISKW) Insect specimens of Komatsu City Museum Insect specimens of Toyama Science Museum