Study

Butterfly conservation within cities: A landscape scale approach integrating natural habitats and abandoned fields in central Mexico

  • Published source details Barranco-Leon de las Nieve M., Luna-Castellanos F., Vergara C.H. & Badano I. (2016) Butterfly conservation within cities: A landscape scale approach integrating natural habitats and abandoned fields in central Mexico. Tropical Conservation Science, 9, 607-628.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Protect greenfield sites or undeveloped land in urban areas

Action Link
Butterfly and Moth Conservation
  1. Protect greenfield sites or undeveloped land in urban areas

    A site comparison study in 2012–2013 in an urban protected area in Puebla, Mexico (Barranco-León de las Nieves et al. 2016) found that native woodland remnants and abandoned grassland had higher species richness of butterflies than non-native Eucalyptus camaldulensis plantations. The species richness of all butterflies and of forest specialist butterflies in dry oak forest remnants (all: 51–57; specialist: 27–28 species), moist oak forest remnants (all: 40–44; specialist: 21–22 species) and abandoned grassland (all: 43–61; specialist: 16–22 species) was higher than in Eucalyptus plantations in both the warm-rainy and cold-dry season (all: 22–25; specialist: 12 species). However, the four habitats had different species composition, especially in the warm rainy season. The 675-ha reserve consisted of four habitat types: moist (11% by area) and dry oak forest (58%), abandoned grassland previously used for grazing (23%), and Eucalyptus plantations (6%). From July–September 2012 (warm rainy season) and January–March 2013 (cold dry season), butterflies were surveyed nine times/season, at 9–12 day intervals, on three 300-m transects/habitat type. Butterfly species were divided into 48 habitat generalists adapted to human-disturbed landscapes, 41 forest specialists which require forests for at least part of their life cycle, and two unclassified species.

    (Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)

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