Researchers from the Museum of Granollers-Natural Sciences and the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) have studied the effects of global change on Mediterranean butterflies. The study, published in the latest issue of the journalEcography and carried out in Catalonia, it foresees serious drops in the populations of most of the butterflies in the territory. According to the results, in general the lack of water and the increase in temperatures due to global warming are puttingthe survival and diversity of these iconic Mediterranean insects are at risk.
This is stated by the first author of the article, Constantí Stefanescu, researcher at the Museum of Granollers-Natural Sciences and associate researcher at CREAF. According to him, “both climatic factors and those directly related to humans have an impact on butterfly communities.” More specifically, Stefanescu, together with Jofre Carnicer and Josep Peñuelas, researchers from the Global Ecology Unit of CREAF and the CSIC, have detected that an increase in aridity, combined with a greater intensification of the use of the territory by human beings ,affect the populations of common and generalist species that we can find in a wide range of altitudes, how could thereina cebrada, Iphiclides podalirius.
In the same way, in the middle mountain, the ecosystem where a greater number of butterfly species have been detected, the increase in temperatures together with the loss of habitats due to the abandonment of the pastures will reduce the populations of the more specialized butterflies that only live in these environments as maidens, species of the genusMelitaea.
The data to simulate the evolution of all these groups of butterflies have been obtained thanks to the monitoring carried out by theCatalan Butterfly Monitoring Scheme(CBMS), between 1994 and 2007. In total, 169 species of butterflies were included in the study. In addition, the main factors that affect the distribution and diversity of butterflies in our country have been introduced into the simulation models: their ideal climate, the place where they usually live, the resources or nutritional plants they need or the landscape structure they prefer. . Ecological factors have also been taken into account, such as the caterpillar’s specialization when feeding, the butterfly’s specialization in its habitat, and the mobility of adults.
ThebutterflieshisVery useful biological indicators to know the state of our natural spaces. In addition, it has been seen that they respond very quickly to the alterations suffered by the environment due to the effects of climate change.
