The butterflies and burnets (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidea, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Zygaenidae) of the Nature Reserve Bosco della Fontana (Lombardy, Italy)
https://doi.org/10.4081/nhs.2023.657
Accepted: 27 April 2023
SUPPORTING INFORMATION: 227
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Insects are declining at an alarming rate in many parts of Europe and this also applies to butterflies, one of the most well-studied groups of insects. They are popular with the public and are considered good biodiversity indicators. Bosco Fontana, an isolated protected area, which contains one of the best preserved lowland forests of northern Italy, is surrounded by a highly modified landscape and is known to host some important butterfly populations. To investigate the butterflies and burnets, a total of 22 standard surveys, lasting 25 minutes each, were carried out in four different habitat types of Bosco Fontana in the years 2020 and 2021. The surveys confirmed the presence of 36 species of butterflies and 3 species of burnets for the reserve. Statistical analysis revealed that the butterfly and burnet assemblages of the grasslands, ecotones and forests were distinct, but similar in the two study years (datasets available as supplementary information). Many nemoral species were confirmed for Bosco Fontana, with relict populations of Favonius quercus and Argynnis paphia present only in a few residual forests in the Po Plain. Five species typical of grasslands and other open habitats and belonging to the local species pool of the Po Plain in the province of Mantua, were never detected at Bosco Fontana in the study years. The ecological significance of their absence is discussed.
Balletto E. & Kudrna O., 1985 – Some aspects of the conservation of butterflies in Italy, with recommendations for a further strategy (Lepidoptera Hesperiidae & Papilionidae). Bollettino della Società entomologica italiana, 117: 39-59.
Balletto E., Toso G. G. & Barberis G., 1982 – Le comunità di Lepidotteri Ropaloceri di alcuni ambienti relitti della Padania. In: Quaderni sulla struttura delle zoocenosi terrestri, 4. I boschi primari della Pianura Padana Veneta. CNR, Roma, AQ/1/181-186: 45-67.
Baz A. & Garcia-Boyero A., 1995 – The effects of forest fragmentation on butterfly communities in Central Spain. Journal of Biogeography, 22: 129-140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2846077
Blair R. B., 1999 – Bird and butterflies along and urban gradient: surrogate taxa for assessing biodiversity? Ecological Applications, 9 (1): 164-170. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(1999)009[0164:BABAAU]2.0.CO;2
Bonato L., Zamprogno E., Bettiol K., Zamprogno B. & Uliana M., 2009 – Le comunità di farfalle diurne (Papilionoidea e Hesperioidea) negli ambienti aridi ripari del Piave nel suo settore prealpino (Nord-Est Italia). De Rerum Natura, quaderni del Museo di Storia Naturale e Archeologia Montebelluna, 5: 23-45.
Bonato L., Uliana M. & Beretta S., 2014 – Farfalle del Veneto. Atlante distributivo. Regione Veneto, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Marsilio Editori, Venezia.
Borghesio L., 2009 – The butterflies of the Vauda Nature Reserve, Italy (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera). Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana, 141 (3): 155-162.
Campanaro A., Hardersen S., Minari E., Toni I. & Mason F. (eds.), 2014 – Piano di gestione della Riserva Naturale Statale e Sito Natura 2000 “Bosco Fontana”. Aggiornamento 2014-2020. Quaderni Conservazione Habitat, 8. Cierre edizioni, Verona.
Clarke K. R., Somerfield P. J. & Chapman M. G., 2006 – On resemblance measures for ecological studies, including taxonomic dissimilarities and a zero-adjusted Bray-Curtis coefficient for denuded assemblages. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 330 (1): 55-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2005.12.017
Corezzola S., Hardersen S. & Maffezzoli L., 2012 – Discovery of isolated population of Phengaris alcon and of Melitaea diamina in the central Po Plain, Italy. Bollettino della Società entomologica italiana, 144 (2): 71-78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/BollettinoSEI.2012.71
Devictor V., van Swaay C., Brereton T., Brotons L., Chamberlain D., Heliölä J., Herrando S., Julliard R., Kuussaari M., Lindström Å., Reif J., Roy D. B., Schweiger O., Settele J., Stefanescu C., Van Strien A., Van Turnhout C., Vermouzek Z., Wallis De Vries M., Wynhoff I. & Jiguet F., 2012 – Differences in the climatic debts of birds and butterflies at a continental scale. Nature Climate Change, 2: 121-124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1347
Gatti F., 2021 – Atlante delle farfalle del Parco Lombardo della Valle del Ticino. Parco Lombardo della Valle del Ticino e Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente.
Ghisolfi M., Leandri F. & Lavezzi F., 2021 – Entomocenosi di habitat relitti: I lepidotteri (Arthropoda: Insecta) del Bosco Didattico di Castelleone (Lombardia - Cremona). Pianura, 39: 65-90.
Grattini N., Novelli F. & Bellintani S., 2016 – Avifauna del mantovano (Lombardia, Italia settentrionale) Aggiunte a tutto il 2015. Natura Bresciana, 40: 101-118.
Habel J. C., Ulrich W., Biburger N., Seibold S. & Schmitt T., 2019 – Agricultural intensification drives butterfly decline. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 12 (4): 289-295. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12343
Habel J. C., Gossner M. M. & Schmitt T., 2020 – What makes a species a priority for nature conservation? Animal Conservation, 23 (1): 28-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12512
Hallmann C. A., Sorg M., Jongejans E., Siepel H., Hofland N., Schwan H., Stenmans W., Müller A., Sumser H., Hörren T., Goulson D. & De Kroon H., 2017 – More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas. PLoS ONE, 12 (10): e0185809. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185809
Hardersen S. & Corezzola S., 2014 – Plot-based butterfly surveys: statistical and methodological aspects. Journal of Insect Conservation, 18 (6): 1171-1183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9728-3
Herrando S., Brotons L., Anton M., Páramo F., Villero D., Titeux N., Quesada J. & Stefanescu C., 2016 – Assessing impacts of land abandonment on Mediterranean biodiversity using indicators based on bird and butterfly monitoring data. Environmental Conservation, 43 (1): 69-78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892915000260
Huemer P., 2004 – Assessment of the species diversity of Lepidoptera in a relict forest of the Po plain – a first attempt. In: Invertebrati di una foresta della Pianura Padana, Bosco della Fontana. Secondo contributo. Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati, 3. Cerretti P., Hardersen S., Mason F., Nardi G., Tisato M. & Zapparoli M. (a cura di). Cierre Grafica Editore, Verona: 185-194.
Jonason D., Milberg P. & Bergman K. O., 2010 – Monitoring of butterflies within a landscape context in south-eastern Sweden. The Journal for Nature Conservation, 18 (1): 22-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2009.02.001
Krauss J., Steffan-Dewenter I. & Tscharntke T., 2003 – Local species immigration, extinction, and turnover of butterflies in relation to habitat area and habitat isolation. Oecologia, 137: 591-602. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1353-x
Lewis R. J., de Bello F., Bennett J. A., Fibich P., Finerty G. E., Götzenberger L., Hiiesalu I., Kasari L., Lepš J., Májeková M., Mudrák O., Riibak K., Ronk A., Rychtecká T., Vitová A. & Pärtel M., 2017 – Applying the dark diversity concept to nature conservation. Conservation Biology, 31 (1): 40-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12723
Maes D. & Van Dyck H., 2001 – Butterfly diversity loss in Flanders (north Belgium): Europe’s worst case scenario? Biological Conservation, 99 (3): 263-276. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00182-8
Mason F., 2002 – Dinamica di una foresta della Pianura Padana. Bosco della Fontana. Primo contributo. Monitoraggio 1995. Rapporti Scientifici 1. Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova.
Mason F., Cerretti P., Tagliapietra A., Speight M. C. D. & Zapparoli M. (a cura di), 2002 – Invertebrati di una foresta della Pianura Padana, Bosco della Fontana, Primo contributo. Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati, 1. Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova.
Middleton-Welling J., Dapporto L., García-Barros E., Wiemers M., Nowicki P., Plazio E., Bonelli S., Zaccagno M., Šašić M., Liparova J., Schweiger O., Harpke A., Musche M., Settele J., Schmucki R. & Shreeve T., 2020 – A new comprehensive trait database of European and Maghreb butterflies, Papilionoidea. Scientific Data, 7: 351. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00697-7
Naumann C. M, Tarmann G. M. & Tremewan W. G., 1999 – The western palaearctic Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera). Apollo Books, Stenstrup. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004631731
Oksanen J., Blanchet F. G, Friendly M., Kindt R., Legendre P., McGlinn D., Minchin P. R., O’Hara R. B., Simpson G. L., Solymos P., Stevens M. H. H., Szoecs E. & Wagner H., 2020 – Vegan. Community Ecology Package, Version 2.5-7. <https://github.com/vegandevs/vegan> (Accessed 18.01.2022).
Pärtel M., Szava-Kovats R. & Zobel M., 2011 – Dark diversity: shedding light on absent species. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 26 (3): 124-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2010.12.004
Pollard E., 1977 – A method for assessing changes in abundance of butterflies. Biological Conservation, 12 (2): 115-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(77)90065-9
Poltronieri I., 2009 – Analisi della comunità di ropaloceri nelle strade forestali di Bosco Fontana. [Unpublished thesis]. Università degli Studi di Padova.
Prosser F., 2014 – Flora. In: Piano di gestione della Riserva Naturale Statale e Sito Natura 2000 “Bosco Fontana”. Aggiornamento 2014-2020. Quaderni Conservazione Habitat, 8. Campanaro A., Hardersen S., Minari E., Toni I. & Mason F. (eds.). Cierre edizioni, Verona: 43-45.
Rada S., Schweiger O., Harpke A., Kühn E., Kuras T., Settele J. & Musche M., 2019 – Protected areas do not mitigate biodiversity declines: A case study on butterflies. Diversity and Distributions, 25 (2): 217-224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12854
Raven P. H. & Wagner D. L., 2021 – Agricultural intensification and climate change are rapidly decreasing insect biodiversity. PNAS, 118 (2): e2002548117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002548117
Royer R. A., Austin J. E. & Newton W. E., 1998 – Checklist and “Pollard Walk” butterfly survey methods on public lands. The American Midland Naturalist, 140 (2): 358-371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031(1998)140[0358:CAPWBS]2.0.CO;2
Rossato F., 2015 – Le praterie del Bosco della Fontana (Mantova): aspetti di diversità vegetale e animale. [Unpublished thesis]. Università degli Studi di Padova, Dipartimento Territorio e Sistemi Agroforestali, Dipartimento Agronomia Animali Alimenti Risorse Naturali e Ambiente.
Streitberger M., Hermann G., Kraus W. & Fartmann T., 2012 – Modern forest management and the decline of the Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine) in Central Europe. Forest Ecology and Management, 269: 239-248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.028
Thomas J. A., Bourn N. A. D., Clarke R. T., Stewart K. E., Simcox D. J., Pearman G. S., Curtis R. & Goodger B., 2001 – The quality and isolation of habitat patches both determine where butterflies persist in fragmented landscapes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 268 (1478): 1791-1796. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1693
Triberti P., 2002 – Lepidoptera. In: Invertebrati di una foresta della Pianura Padana. Bosco della Fontana. Primo contributo. Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati, 1. Mason F., Cerretti P., Tagliapietra A., Speight M. C. D. & Zapparoli M. (a cura di). Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova: 139-149.
van Swaay C. A. M., Warren M. & Loïs G., 2006 – Biotope use and trends of European butterflies. Journal of Insect Conservation, 10: 189-209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-6293-4
van Swaay C. A. M., Nowicki P., Settele J. & van Strien A. J., 2008 – Butterfly monitoring in Europe: methods, applications and perspectives. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17: 3455-3469. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9491-4
van Swaay C. A. M., Dennis E. B., Schmucki R., Sevilleja C. G., Balalaikins M., Botham M., Bourn N., Brereton T., Cancela J. P., Carlisle B., Chambers P., Collins S., Dopagne C., Escobés R., Feldmann R., Fernández-García J. M., Fontaine B., Gracianteparaluceta A., Harrower C., Harpke A., Heliölä J., Komac B., Kühn E., Lang A., Maes D., Mestdagh X., Middlebrook I., Monasterio Y., Munguira M. L., Murray T. E., Musche M., Õunap E., Paramo F., Pettersson L. B., Piqueray J., Settele J., Stefanescu C., Švitra G., Tiitsaar A., Verovnik R., Warren M. S., Wynhoff I. & Roy D. B., 2019 – The EU Butterfly Indicator for Grassland species: 1990-2017: Technical Report. Butterfly Conservation Europe.
Vigna Taglianti A., 2004 – Carabidae (Coleoptera). In: Invertebrati di una Foresta della Pianura Padana Bosco della Fontana. Secondo contributo. Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati, 3. Cerretti P., Hardersen S., Mason F., Nardi G., Tisato M. & Zapparoli M. (eds.). Cierre Grafica Editore, Verona: 51-63.
Villa R., Pellecchia M. & Pesce G. B., 2009 – Farfalle d’Italia. Istituto per i Beni Artistici Culturali e Naturali della Regione Emilia-Romagna. Editrice Compositori, Bologna.
Warren M. S., Maes D., Swaay C. A. M. van Goffart P., Dyck H. V., Bourn N. A. D., Wynhoff I., Hoare D. & Ellis S., 2021 – The decline of butterflies in Europe: problems, significance, and possible solutions. PNAS, 118 (2): e2002551117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002551117
Wiemers M., Balletto E., Dincă V., Fric Z. F., Lamas G., Lukhtanov V., Munguira M. L., van Swaay C. A. M., Vila R., Vliegenthart A., Wahlberg N. & Verovnik R., 2018 – An updated checklist of the European Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea). ZooKeys, 811: 9-45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.811.28712
Wikström L., Milberg P. & Bergman K. O., 2009 – Monitoring of butterflies in semi-natural grasslands: diurnal variation and weather effects. Journal of Insect Conservation, 13 (2): 203-211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9144-7
Zuur A. F., Ieno E. N. & Smith G. M., 2007 – Analysing ecological data. Springer, New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-45972-1
Copyright (c) 2023 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Downloads
Citations
