Implications of biogeographical structures for the conservation of European butterflies

Abstract

The biogeographical structure of organisms has at least two points of relevance for their conservation. First, species differ in geographical status, influencing regional faunal composition and species-dynamics. Secondly, human pressures of population growth, of industrial and urban development, and from agriculture on the one hand, and of conservation resources, public awareness and sympathy, and legislation on the other, have a geographical bias, much of it accounted for by state boundaries. These geographical patterns determine the nature of problems and solutions for a regional fauna.