Butterflies of the Indian Himalaya Along with Nepal and Bhutan

Le résumé fourni par la source

The Himalayan region represents one of the hotspots of butterfly diversity harboring about 76% of the total species reported from the Indian subcontinent. This unique faunal wealth is under immense pressure due to habitat modification and climate change. Concrete conservation measures are impeded due to the lack of information on distribution patterns, ecology, and functional biology of a large proportion of species in the region. In this study, we review various published literature from the Himalayan region of India, Nepal, and Bhutan to document the species and genera richness of butterflies. We further categorize butterflies into different subgroups based on their larval diet breadth, biogeographic affinity, and conservation priority. We then determine the elevational distribution pattern of the overall community and the subgroups. Lastly, we assess threats and discuss conservation approaches adopted to safeguard butterflies in the region. We document a total of 1096 species and 348 genera belonging to 33 subfamilies and six families of butterflies that have their distributional range in the Himalayan region. Among these, 311 species representing 28.37% are of high conservation concern. The species richness of butterflies is comparatively higher in the Central and Eastern Himalaya than in the Western Himalaya. The species richness of the overall butterfly community and most of the subgroups declines monotonically along the elevational gradient. Butterflies species composition shows high turnover with increasing elevation. The lower elevation consists of more number of Oriental and conservation concern species, while the higher elevation is characterized by Palearctic species. Assessment of threat shows that more butterflies are threatened in the lower elevation due to habitat modification while climate change may affect species across the landscape. Butterflies, unlike most of the higher faunal taxa, receive comparatively less conservation attention. The conservation measures implemented at present are inadequate to conserve butterflies. New approaches that take into account both the conservation of butterflies and socioeconomic interest of local communities are essential in the region.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.