Urban yards as potential conservation space: large, diverse gardens may be valuable resource patches for butterflies

Nason, Lindsay D.; Eason, Perri K.

doi:10.1007/s11252-023-01406-z

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…However, the flora within the urban scenic habitat consists mainly of larger areas of ornamental plants, which are prone to management disturbances from ornamental demands (e.g., branch cutting, re-arrangements, and seasonal change) [82,103,104]. Moreover, scenic habitats are scattered (fragmented) in the campus landscape; species with higher dispersal capabilities, such as Pieris rapae, Colias fieldii, C. poliographus, and Lampides boeticus, could survive and dominate in similar urban areas or highly fragmented environments [10,90,105,106]. Furthermore, like that in the campus, urban green space management often leads to the unnecessary use of pesticides, which harms butterfly populations in these areas (Figure 8) [107,108].…”

Section: Urban/campus Disturbance and Butterfly Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Butterfly Diversity in a Rapidly Developing Urban Area: A Case Study on a University Campus

Fang,

Li,

Pan

et al. 2023

Diversity

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University campuses, as small and isolated areas of rapidly growing urban areas, can provide a unique opportunity for urban biodiversity research, conservation, education, and citizen science by monitoring assemblages of butterflies within their areas. We surveyed butterfly biodiversity in a rapidly developing urban area represented by the Chenggong Campus of Yunnan University in southwestern China using the Pollard walk method. In total, 3625 butterfly individuals belonging to 50 species, 35 genera, and six families were recorded in this survey. The results showed that the families Pieridae and Nymphalidae are the families with the highest species richness on the campus, and that the family Riodinidae contained the fewest species. Pieris rapae was the most common species, and seven species assessed by the IUCN Red List were recorded. Butterfly community structure varied across habitats and seasons on campus, and butterfly diversity was higher in spring and autumn than it was in summer and winter, as well as being higher in road habitats than in scenic habitats. Unavoidable urbanisation activities (construction, green space planning, etc.) may have influenced the composition and diversity of butterflies, and conserving urban butterfly diversity requires a balance between urban planning and habitat diversity. Finally, we encourage universities and research institutions to develop butterfly monitoring platforms for citizen scientists to participate in.

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