Patterns and causes of covariation in bird and butterfly community structure

Abstract

Context Variation in biological communities is used to identify biodiversity responses to anthropogenic drivers, and to guide conservation responses. Often, such data are only available for a limited group of species, with uncertain applicability to unmonitored taxa. Objective Using equivalent data on the community structure of two contrasting taxa, we examine spatial co-variation in both communities, and test the extent to which any associations may result from large-scale latitudinal patterns, variation in habitat-type, or other factors. Methods Birds and butterflies were surveyed using standard methods across a stratified random sample of 1-km 2 squares across the UK. Four measures of community structure were calculated and used to examine their association between the two taxa, before accounting for effects of latitude, habitat-type and observer. Results Species richness, diversity and community specialisation were significantly correlated between birds and butterflies, but evenness was not. There were strong latitudinal gradients in bird community specialisation, and butterfly richness and diversity. Habitat diversity significantly affected bird communities, whilst butterfly evenness and specialisation was reduced on farmland and human-related habitats. Covariation in richness and diversity between taxa remained after including effects of latitude and habitat-type. Conclusions Surrogacy approaches may be useful when considering fine-scale variation in species richness and diversity to inform site-based conservation and management decisions. However, limited covariance in evenness and specialisation metrics suggest that decisions based on the needs of rare or specialist species may be less relevant to other taxa.