Traits of butterfly communities change from specialist to generalist characteristics with increasing land-use intensity
2013 | journal article. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.
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Traits of butterfly communities change from specialist to generalist characteristics with increasing land-use intensity
Boerschig, C.; Klein, A.-M.; von Wehrden, H. & Krauss, J. (2013)
Basic and Applied Ecology, 14(7) pp. 547-554. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2013.09.002
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- Authors
- Boerschig, Carmen; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; von Wehrden, Henrik; Krauss, Jochen
- Abstract
- Land-use intensification leads to species loss and shifts in community composition, but only few studies examine how these dynamics affect ecological and life-history traits. We thus investigated whether ecological and life-history traits differ between butterfly communities of grasslands with different land-use intensity. We conducted butterfly transect surveys in 137 grassland sites in three regions of Germany and compiled 10 species-specific ecological and life-history traits from the literature. These traits are associated with food plant specialisation, dispersal, distribution, reproduction and development. We calculated a land-use intensity gradient based on the amount of fertilise mowing frequency and grazing intensity. We analysed differences of traits characteristics between butterfly communities along the land-use intensity gradient in a fourth-corner analysis, thus considering correlations between traits. Six ecological and life-history traits changed from characteristics associated with specialists to such associated with generalists with increasing land-use intensity. These traits characteristics in intensified grasslands were: high dispersal propensity, large distribution range, low population density, more than one generation per year, hibernation in a more advanced developmental stage and a long flight period. The functional homogenisation of the butterfly communities with changes from specialist to generalist trait characteristics with increasing land-use intensity may have severe consequences for ecosystem functioning and services.
- Issue Date
- 2013
- Journal
- Basic and Applied Ecology
- Organization
- Fakultät für Agrarwissenschaften ; Department für Nutzpflanzenwissenschaften ; Abteilung Agrarökologie
- ISSN
- 1618-0089; 1439-1791
- Sponsor
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [KL 1849/3-1]