Temporal dynamics of fruit-feeding butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in two habitats in a seasonal Brazilian environment
Keywords:
assemblage, Cerrado, gallery forest, savanna, seasonalityAbstract
The Cerrado Biome comprises many habitats, the most common being the savanna type. This biome presents an intense dry season that imposes difficulties on organism survival. The Cerrado’s wet season is the period of greatest abundance and richness of species, including the Lepidoptera. In Brazil, most studies on Nymphalidae seasonality have been conducted in biomes other than the Cerrado. Thus, the pattern of the Nymphalidae seasonality in the Cerrado is unknown. The aim of this study was to describe the temporal dynamics of these butterflies in both savanna and gallery forest habitats in the Cerrado, comparing our findings to those previously reported from other Brazilian biomes, and to discuss the effects of weather and habitat structure on temporal dynamics. Thirty bait-traps were distributed in 2 vertical strata (understory and canopy) in each habitat type (savanna and gallery forest; thus, 60 bait-traps were distributed during 6 d each month from Jul 2012 to Jun 2013. In total, 3,459 individuals of 62 species were captured. The transition between the wet and dry season presented the greatest abundance and species richness and was the period of lowest evenness in the Nymphalidae community. Two distinct assemblages were found in the savanna and gallery forest. Moreover, greater butterfly species turnover was found over time in the gallery forest than in the savanna habitat. These results highlight the importance of climatic seasons, plant phenology, and habitat structure as important predictors of the temporal dynamics of these butterflies in the Cerrado Biome. Furthermore, the floristic and structural distinctiveness of the savanna and gallery forest, and the biological requirements of the butterfly species, could explain a large portion of the species turnover observed in the gallery forest.
Resumo
O Cerrado é formado por várias fitofisionomias e a mais comum é o habitat do tipo savana. Apresenta um período seco intenso e prolongado, o que impõe dificuldades à sobrevivência de organismos. No cerrado, a maior abundância e riqueza de insetos, incluindo os lepidópteros ocorrem no período chuvoso. No Brasil, a maioria dos estudos sobre sazonalidade dos Nymphalidae foi desenvolvido em outros biomas, portanto, o presente estudo visa preencher essa lacuna no Cerrado. Os objetivos foram: 1) descrever a dinâmica temporal dessas borboletas em dois habitat do Cerrado, cerrado sensu stricto (vegetação tipo savana) e mata de galeria e 2), comparar a dinâmica temporal dos Nymphalidae do Cerrado com o encontrado em outros biomas. Sessenta armadilhas foram distribuídas nos dois habitats, em duas alturas (sub-bosque e dossel) e acompanhadas por seis dias a cada mês, em um ano. Foram capturadas 3.459 borboletas de 62 espécies. A maior abundância e riqueza de espécies, e a menor equitabilidade na distribuição das abundâncias dos Nymphalidae foram encontradas na transição entre a estação seca e a chuvosa. Entretanto, não houve variação significativa na diversidade ao longo do tempo. A composição de espécies de borboletas foi distinta entre os dois habitats, com maior substituição temporal na mata de galeria. A composição estrutural e florística, as características fenológicas das plantas da mata de galeria, e o requerimento biológico desses ninfalídeos são fatores que explicaram as variações nas comunidades presentes na mata e no cerrado sensu stricto.
Downloads
Additional Files
- Supplementary file 1. Ten linear transects, with 3 sample plots and 2 bait-traps (understory and canopy) each, distributed in Savanna ("cerrado sensu stricto": C1 – C5) and gallery forest ("mata de galeria": M1 – M5) habitats. The bait-traps were visited
- Supplementary file 2. Species list of those fruit-feeding butterflies (Nymphalidae) captured in four climate periods (wet, dry and transitions between wet-dry: "T.wd" and dry-wet: "T.dw") in the Fazenda Água Limpa (FAL) and Reserva Ecológica do Roncador (
- Fig 7
- Fig 6
- Fig 5
- Fig 4
- Fig 2
- Fig 1
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright for any article published in Florida Entomologist is held by the author(s) of the article. Florida Entomologist is an open access journal. Florida Entomologist follows terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License (cc by-nc). By submitting and publishing articles in Florida Entomologist, authors grant the FOJ and Florida Entomologist's host institutions permission to make the article available through Internet posting and electronic dissemination, and to otherwise archive the information contained both electronically and in a hard printed version. When used, information and images obtained from articles must be referenced and cited appropriately. Articles may be reproduced for personal, educational, or archival purposes, or any non-commercial use. Permission should be sought from the author(s) for multiple, non-commercial reproduction. Written permission from the author(s) is required for any commercial reproduction.