Abstract
Butterflies are widely studied due to their key ecosystem functions. For this reason, they are used in ecosystem assessment, formulating conservation plans and in raising the environmental awareness. Quantification of different factors affecting diversity of butterflies is important for their effective conservation. In this study, we investigated abiotic and biotic factors affecting species richness and community composition of butterflies along an elevational gradient in Manang region, central Nepal. We also tested if butterfly species follow the Bergmann’s rule. A total of 57 butterfly species belonging to 39 genera and 8 families were recorded in the study area. Out of a total of 127 plant species identified in the study region, only 67 plant species were visited by butterflies as nectar sources. Species richness of butterflies increased with increasing elevation. Species richness was significantly higher in places with shrubs compared to other places and also in autumn than in summer. Species richness of butterflies also depended on composition of plant species occurring at the localities. Butterfly species composition varied among sampling localities. It was also determined by habitat type, elevation, sampling time, plant species and interactions of elevation × time. The relationship between butterfly size and elevation was in the opposite direction than expected according to the Bergmann’s rule. In conclusion, protection of butterfly diversity can only be achieved by protecting different habitats across the diverse physiography of the region and different plant species, in particular herbs and shrubs. Our results do not support the Bergmann’s rule for butterflies along an elevational gradient in our region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acharya BK, Vijayan L (2015) Butterfly diversity along the elevation gradient of Eastern Himalaya, India. Ecological Research 30: 909–919. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1292-0
Ansari NA, Ram J, Nawab A (2015) Structure and composition of Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) fauna in Surajpur wetland, National Capital Region, India. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology 4: 43–53.
Arnold KE, Owens IPF (1998) Cooperative breeding in birds: a comparative test of the life history hypothesis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 265: 739–745. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1998.0355
Ashton KG (2002) Patterns of within-species body size variation of birds: strong evidence for Bergmann’s rule. Global Ecology and Biogeography 11: 505–523.
Ashton KG, Feldman CR (2003) Bergmann’s rule in nonavian reptiles: turtles follow it, lizards and snakes reverse it. Evolution 57: 1151–1163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00324.x
Basnet TB, Rokaya MB, Bhattarai BP, Münzbergová Z (2016) Heterogeneous landscapes on steep slopes at low altitudes as hotspots of bird diversity in a hilly region of Nepal in the central Himalayas. PLOS ONE 11: e0150498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150498
Beck J, Altermatt F, Hagmann R, Lang S (2010) Seasonality in the altitude–diversity pattern of Alpine moths. Basic and Applied Ecology 11:714–722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2010.08.009
Bhardwaj M, Uniyal VP, Sanyal AK, Singh AP (2012) Butterfly communities along an elevational gradient in the Tons valley, Western Himalayas: Implications of rapid assessment for insect conservation. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology 15: 207–217.
Bhuju UR, Shakya PR, Basnet T, Shrestha S (2007) Nepal Biodiversity Resource Book: Protected Areas, Ramsar Sites, and World Heritage Sites. ICIMOD, Government of Nepal and UNEP, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bhusal DR, Khanal B (2008) Seasonal and altitudinal diversity of butterflies in eastern siwalik of Nepal. Journal of Natural History Museum (Nepal) 23: 82–87.
Blackburn TM, Gaston KJ, Loder N (1999) Geographic gradients in body size: a clarification of Bergmann’s rule. Diversity and Distributions 5: 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1472-4642.1999.00046.x
Bonebrake TC, Ponisio LC, Boggs CL, Ehrlich PR (2010) More than just indicators: A review of tropical butterfly ecology and conservation. Biological Conservation 143: 1831–1841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.044
Brehm G, Fiedler K (2004) Bergmann’s rule does not apply to geometrid moths along an elevational gradient in an Andean montane rain forest. Global Ecology and Biogeography 13: 7–14.
Brehm G, Zeuss D, Colwell RK (2018) Moth body size increases with elevation along a complete tropical elevational gradient for two hyperdiverse clades. Ecography https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03917
Chettri B, Bhupathy S, Acharya BK (2010) Distribution pattern of reptiles along an eastern Himalayan elevation gradient, India. Acta Oecologica 36: 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2009.09.004
DeVries PJ, Penz CM, Hill RI (2010) Vertical distribution, flight behaviour and evolution of wing morphology in Morpho butterflies. Journal of Animal Ecology 79: 1077–1085. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01710.x
DoHM (2015) Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Ministry of Science, Technology & Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Dostálek T, Rokaya MB, Maršík P, et al (2016) Trade-off among different anti-herbivore defence strategies along an altitudinal gradient. AoB Plants 8: plw026. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plw026
Espeland M, Breinholt J, Willmott KR, et al (2018) A Comprehensive and dated phylogenomic analysis of butterflies. Current Biology 28: 770–778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.061
Fiedler K (1998) Diet breadth and host plant diversity of tropical- vs. temperate-zone herbivores: South-East Asian and West Palaearctic butterflies as a case study. Ecological Entomology 23: 285–297. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2311.1998.00132.x
Friberg M, Leimar O, Wiklund C (2013) Heterospecific courtship, minority effects and niche separation between cryptic butterfly species. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 26: 971–979. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12106
Galen C, Storks L, Carpenter E, et al (2017) Pollination mechanisms and plant-pollinator relationships. Office of Extension, University of Missouri, U.S.A.
Geraghty MJ, Dunn RR, Sanders NJ (2007) Body size, colony size, and range size in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): are patterns along elevational and latitudinal gradients consistent with Bergmann’s rule. Myrmecological News 10: 51–58.
Grill A, Knoflach B, Cleary DFR, et al. (2005) Butterfly, spider, and plant communities in different land-use types in Sardinia, Italy. Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 1281–1300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-1661-4
Gutiérrez D (1997) Importance of historical factors on species richness and composition of butterfly assemblages (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) in a northern Iberian mountain range. Journal of Biogeography 24: 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00052.x
Hawkins BA, DeVries P (1996) Altitudinal gradients in the body sizesof Costa Rican butterflies. Acta Oecologica 17: 10.
Hawkins BA, Field R, Cornell HV, et al (2003) Energy, water, and broad-scale geographic patterns of species richness. Ecology 84: 3105–3117.
Hawkins BA, Lawton JH (1995a) Latitudinal gradients in butterfly body sizes: is there a general pattern? Oecologia 102: 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00333307
Hawkins BA, Lawton JH (1995b) Latitudinal gradients in butterfly body sizes: is there a general pattern? Oecologia 102: 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00333307
Heinrich B (1993) The hot-blooded insects. Spinger, Berlin, Heidelberg, London, UK.
Holland MM, Risser PG (1991) The role of landscape boundaries in the management and restoration of changing environments: Introduction. In: Holland MM, Risser PG, Naiman RJ (eds.) Ecotones: The Role of Landscape Boundaries in the Management and Restoration of Changing Environments. Springer US, Boston, MA, pp 1–7.
Hu J, Xie F, Li C, et al. (2011) Elevational patterns of species richness, range and body size for spiny frogs. PLOS ONE 6: e19817. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019817
Janzen DH, Ataroff M, Farinas M, et al (1976) Changes in the arthropod community along an elevational transect in the Venezuelan Andes. Biotropica 8: 193. https://doi.org/10.2307/2989685
Joshi PC, Arya M (2007) Butterfly communities along altitudinal gradients in a protected forest in the Western Himalayas, India. The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University 7: 1–9.
Joshi RK, Dhyani S (2014) Butterflies diversity, distribution and threats in Dibru-Saikhowa Biospehere Reserve Assam north east India: A review. World Journal of Zoology 9: 250–259.
Katuwal HB, Basnet K, Khanal B, et al. (2016) Seasonal changes in bird species and feeding guilds along elevational gradients of the central Himalayas, Nepal. PLOS ONE 11: e0158362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158362
Khanal B (1982) Butterflies from Lamjung and Manang Regions. Journal of Natural History Museum (Nepal) 6: 79–95.
Khanal B (1984) Butterflies from Lamjung and Manang Regions. Journal of Natural History Museum (Nepal) 8: 37–40.
Khanal B, Bhandary HR (1982) Food plant of some butterfly larvae. Journal of Natural History Museum (Nepal) 6: 57–69.
Khanal B, Chalise MK, Solanki GS (2013) Threatened butterflies of central Nepal. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5: 4612–4615.
Khanal B, Chalise MK, Solanki GS (2012) Diversity of butterflies with respect of altitudinal risk at a various pockets of the Langtang national park, central Nepal. International Multidisciplinary Research Journal 2: 41–48.
Khatiwada JR, Haugaasen T (2015) Anuran species richness and abundance along an elevational gradient in Chitwan, Nepal. Zoology and Ecology 25: 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/21658005.2015.1016775
Kitahara M, Yumoto M, Kobayashi T (2008) Relationship of butterfly diversity with nectar plant species richness in and around the Aokigahara primary woodland of Mount Fuji, central Japan. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 2713–2734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9265-4
Kremen C (1992) Assessing the indicator properties of species assemblages for natural areas monitoring. Ecological Applications 2: 203–217. https://doi.org/10.2307/1941776
Kunte K (2000) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press (India) Private Limited, India.
Lahann P, Schmid J, Ganzhorn JU (2006) Geographic variation in populations of emphasis Microcebus murinus in Madagascar: Resource seasonality or Bergmann’s rule? International Journal of Primatology 27: 983–999. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9055-y
Leingärtner A, Krauss J, Steffan-Dewenter I (2014) Species richness and trait composition of butterfly assemblages change along an altitudinal gradient. Oecologia 175: 613–623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-2917-7
Lepš J, Šmilauer P (2014) Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data Using CANOCO 5, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Lindsey CC (1966) Body Sizes of Poikilotherm Vertebrates at Different Latitudes. Evolution 20: 456. https://doi.org/10.2307/2406584
Luoto M, Heikkinen RK, Pöyry J, et al. (2006) Determinants of the biogeographical distribution of butterflies in boreal regions. Journal of Biogeography 33: 1764–1778. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01395.x
Mani MS (1986) Butterflies of the Himalaya. Oxford & IBH Publication Co Janapath, New Delhi, India.
McCain CM, Grytnes J-A (2010) Elevational gradients in species richness. In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.
Mehra D, Kirti JS, Sidhu AK (2017) Biodiversity and conservation status of butterflies in western Himalaya, India: An appraisal. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 5: 1171–1177.
Meiri S, Dayan T (2003) On the validity of Bergmann’s rule. Journal of Biogeography 30: 331–351. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00837.x
Merckx T, Huertas B, Basset Y, et al. (2013) A global perspective on conserving butterflies and moths and their habitats. iIn: Macdonald DW, Willis KJ (eds.) Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2, First. John Wiley & Sons, Oxford, pp 237–257.
Miehe G, Pendry CA, Chaudhary R (eds) (2015) Nepal: An Introduction to the Natural History, Ecology and Human Environment in the Himalayas. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK.
Nylin S, Svärd L (1991) Latitudinal patterns in the size of European butterflies. Holarctic Ecology 14: 192–202.
Pandey R, Khadka KK, Ghimire A, et al. (2017) Elevational distribution of butterflies in the Himalayas: a case study from Langtang National Park, Nepal. Journal of Mountain Science 14: 1384–1390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4360-9
Panthi MP, Chaudhary RP, Vetaas OR (2007) Plant species richness and composition in a trans-Himalayan inner valley of Manang district, central Nepal. Himalayan Journal of Sciences 4: 57–64.
Paudel PK, Šipoš J (2014) Conservation status affects elevational gradient in bird diversity in the Himalaya: A new perspective. Global Ecology and Conservation 2: 338–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2014.10.012
Pellissier L, Fiedler K, Ndribe C, et al (2012) Shifts in species richness, herbivore specialization, and plant resistance along elevation gradients. Ecology and Evolution 2: 1818–1825. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.296
Perveen F (2012) Distribution of butterflies (Lepidoptera) of Kohat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Agricultural Science Research Journals 2: 539–549.
Pincheira-Donoso D, Hodgson DJ, Tregenza T (2008) The evolution of body size under environmental gradients in ectotherms: why should Bergmann’s rule apply to lizards? BMC Evolutionary Biology 8: 68. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-8-68
Polunin O, Stainton A (1984) Flowers of the Himalaya. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, India.
Press JR, Shrestha KK, Sutton DA (2000) Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal. Natural History Museum, London, UK.
Qureshi AA, Bhagat RC (2013) A survey of host-plants of Pieridae (Rhopalocera: Lepidoptera) with some new records from Kashmir valley. Indian Journal of Entomology 75: 217–224.
R Development Core Team (2019) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. (Accessed 18 Mar 2018)
Regier JC, Zwick A, Cummings MP, et al (2009) Toward reconstructing the evolution of advanced moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an initial molecular study. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9: 280. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-9-280
Rosin ZM, Myczko Ł, Skórka P, et al. (2012) Butterfly responses to environmental factors in fragmented calcareous grasslands. Journal of Insect Conservation 16: 321–329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9416-5
Roy US, Mukherjee M, Mukhopadhyay SK (2013) Butterfly diversity and abundance with reference to habitat heterogeneity in and around Neora Valley National Park, West Bengal, India. Our Nature 10: 53–60. https://doi.org/10.3126/on.v10i1.7751
Rydell J, Lancaster WC (2000) Flight and thermoregulation in moths were shaped by predation from bats. Oikos 88: 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.880103.x
Rypel AL (2013) The cold-water connection: Bergmann’s rule in North American freshwater fishes. The American Naturalist 183: 147–156.
Saikia MK (2014) Diversity of tropical butterflies in urban altered forest at Gauhati University campus, Jalubbari, Assam, India. Journal of Global Biosciences 3: 452–463.
Salewski V, Hochachka WM, Fiedler W (2010) Global warming and Bergmann’s rule: do central European passerines adjust their body size to rising temperatures? Oecologia 162: 247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1446-2
Scott JA (2014) Lepidoptera of North America 13. Flower Visitation by Colorado Butterflies (40,615 Records) with a Review of the Literature on Pollination of Colorado Plants and Butterfly Attraction (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea). C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Colorado State University, Lakewood, Colorado, USA.
Serrat A, Pons P, Puig–Gironès R, Stefanescu C (2015) Environmental factors influencing butterfly abundance after a severe wildfire in Mediterranean vegetation. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 38: 207–220.
Shapiro AM (1996) Status of butterflies. University of Califonia, Centrers for Water and Wildland Resources, California, USA.
Shelomi M (2012) Where are we now? Bergmann’s rule Sensu Lato in insects. The American Naturalist 180: 511–519. https://doi.org/10.1086/667595
Shrestha PK, Smith C (1977) Variation among Nepal’s butterflies. Journal of Natural History Museum (Nepal) 1: 133–242.
Smith C (1989) Butterflies of Nepal (Central Himalaya). Tecpress Books, Bangkok, Thailand.
Smith C (2011a) Butterflies of the Annapurna Conservation Area. Annapurna Conservation Project, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Smith C (2011b) A Photographic Pocket Guide to Butterflies of Nepal: In Natural Environment. Himalayan Map House Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu, Nepal.
Smith C (2010) Lepidoptera of Nepal. Himalayan Nature, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Smith C (1995) Illustrated Checklist of Nepal’s Butterflies, New revised and updated edition edition. White Lotus, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Stainton A (1988) Flowers of the Himalaya: A Supplement. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, India.
Sundufu AJ, Dumbuya R (2008) Habitat preferences of butterflies in the Bumbuna forest, northern Sierra Leone. Journal of Insect Science 8: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1673/031.008.6401
ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P (2012) Canoco 5, Windows release (5.12). Biometris, Plant Research International, The Netherlands and Czech Republic.
Uniyal VP (2007) Butterflies in the Great Himalayan Conservation Landscape in Himanchal Pradesh, Western Himalaya. Entomon 32: 119–127.
Utrio P (1995) On flight temperatures and foraging strategies of nocturnal moths. Baptria 20: 113–122.
Valdés A, Ehrlén J (2017) Direct and plant trait-mediated effects of the local environmental context on butterfly oviposition patterns. Oikos o: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04909
Van Lien V, Yuan D (2003) The differences of butterfly (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) communities in habitats with various degrees of disturbance and altitudes in tropical forests of Vietnam. Biodiversity and Conservation 12: 1099–1111.
Walther G-R, Post E, Convey P, et al. (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416: 389–395.
Zeuss D, Brunzel S, Brandl R (2017) Environmental drivers of voltinism and body size in insect assemblages across Europe. Global Ecology and Biogeography 26: 154–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12525
Acknowledgements
Maan B. Rokaya, Tomáš Dostálek and Zuzana Münzbergová were supported by the Czech Science Foundation project number 17–10280S (www.gacr.cz) and long-term research development project number RVO 67985939 (www.cas.cz). Binu Timsina is supported by the Czech Science Foundation National Sustainability Program I (NPU I) (Grant number LO1415) of MSMT. We are grateful to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Nepal and Annapurna Conservation Area/National Trust for Nature Conservation for giving us permission to carry out the research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shrestha, B.R., Timsina, B., Münzbergová, Z. et al. Butterfly-plant interactions and body size patterns along an elevational gradient in the Manang region of central Nepal. J. Mt. Sci. 17, 1115–1127 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5381-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5381-3