Variação sazonal das borboletas (Lepidoptera) da mata do Museu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico da UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

As borboletas (Lepdoptera), por serem coloridas e de fácil visualização, são ótimas bandeiras para conservação. Também são boas indicadoras ambientais e úteis no monitoramento de ecossistemas. O objetivo desse estudo foi realizar análise da composição, riqueza e abundância das borboletas do Museu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico (MHNJB) UFMG, relacionando esses parâmetros com a sazonalidade. As coletas foram realizadas bimestralmente durante um ano (entre junho de 2016 e maio de 2017). Cada amostragem foi realizada por dois dias, com o uso de redes entomológicas em cada uma das quatro áreas predeterminadas, num total de 48 horas de esforço amostral. Foram coletadas 571 borboletas de 95 espécies, sendo 40 singletons e 14 doubletons. A abundância e a riqueza não variaram entre os meses (F = 1,227, p = 0,337; F = 1,34, p = 0,378, respectivamente) e nem entre as estações (F = 0,7749, p = 0,388; F = 1,0045, p = 0,327, respectivamente). Já a composição das espécies diferiu entre os meses (p = 0,003) e entre as estações (p = 0,017). A curva de acúmulo de espécies não se estabilizou, indicando que há mais espécies para serem amostradas nas matas (áreas T1, T2, T3 e T4) do Museu

Diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a mountaintop archipelago of rainforest.

We provide the first description of the effects of local vegetation and landscape structure on the fruit-feeding butterfly community of a natural archipelago of montane rainforest islands in the Serra do Espinhaço, southeastern Brazil. Butterflies were collected with bait traps in eleven forest islands through both dry and rainy seasons for two consecutive years. The influence of local and landscape parameters and seasonality on butterfly species richness, abundance and composition were analyzed. We also examined the partitioning and decomposition of temporal and spatial beta diversity. Five hundred and twelve fruit-feeding butterflies belonging to thirty-four species were recorded. Butterfly species richness and abundance were higher on islands with greater canopy openness in the dry season. On the other hand, islands with greater understory coverage hosted higher species richness in the rainy season. Instead, the butterfly species richness was higher with lower understory coverage in the dry season. Butterfly abundance was not influenced by understory cover. The landscape metrics of area and isolation had no effect on species richness and abundance. The composition of butterfly communities in the forest islands was not randomly structured. The butterfly communities were dependent on local and landscape effects, and the mechanism of turnover was the main source of variation in β diversity. The preservation of this mountain rainforest island complex is vital for the maintenance of fruit-feeding butterfly community; one island does not reflect the diversity found in the whole archipelago

Variables that significantly influence the species composition of frugivorous butterflies of a montane forest archipelago in Serra do Cipó, Brazil.

<p>Variables that significantly influence the species composition of frugivorous butterflies of a montane forest archipelago in Serra do Cipó, Brazil.</p

Frequency, richness and singletons of species of frugivorous butterflies collected in the archipelago of forest islands in Serra do Cipó, Brazil.

<p>Abundance of butterfly subfamily is shown within parentheses.</p

Area, perimeter, distance to nearest continuous forest, distance to closest forest island, altitude, location, and geographic coordinates of the 11 forest islands in Serra do Cipó, Brazil.

<p>Area, perimeter, distance to nearest continuous forest, distance to closest forest island, altitude, location, and geographic coordinates of the 11 forest islands in Serra do Cipó, Brazil.</p

Observed and expected diversity of frugivorous butterflies of a montane forest archipelago in Serra do Cipó, Brazil.

<p>Observed alpha diversity was greater than expected. Observed beta diversity was less than expected.</p

Analyses of the models showing the effect of canopy openness, understory coverage and seasonality on the richness and abundance of frugivorous butterflies of a montane forest archipelago in Serra do Cipó, Brazil (richness R² = 53.1 p<0.001; abundance R² = 83 p<0.001).

<p>Analyses of the models showing the effect of canopy openness, understory coverage and seasonality on the richness and abundance of frugivorous butterflies of a montane forest archipelago in Serra do Cipó, Brazil (richness R² = 53.1 p<0.001; abundance R² = 83 p<0.001).</p

Richness and abundance of frugivorous butterflies in each season (dry and rainy) by forest island, based on simplified generalized linear mixed model.

<p>(A) Richness in the rainy and dry seasons. (B) Abundance in the rainy and dry season. There was no significant difference between the two seasons.</p