Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns in distribution of butterfly assemblages at different habitats of Corbett Tiger Reserve, Northern India

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Tropical Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) located in state Uttarakhand is the first protected area established for in-situ conservation of biodiversity in India. Despite its national importance, there exists lacunae in knowledge on butterflies, important from the viewpoints of effective planning and implementation of conservation actions in the CTR. Using standardized methods, the present study conducted between 2013 to 2014 was aimed to record butterfly species composition and distribution in different sampling regimes of the CTR in relation to habitat types and disturbances. Study revealed a total of 2621 individual butterflies of 56 species under 5 families. Among them, 24 species belong to the Nymphalidae family, 14 species to the Pieridae, 9 species to the Lycaenidae, 5 species to the Papilionidae and 4 species to the Hesperiidae. 50% of the total species were recorded as ubiquitous and 30 species are new records to the CTR. Species such as Catopsilia pomona (Fabricius), Papilio polytes (Cramer), Eurema hecabe (Linnaeus), Catopsilia pyranthe (Linnaeus) were most abundant and Athyma zeroca (Moore), Sarangesa purendra (Moore), Cyrestis thyodamas (Boisduval), Polyura agraria (Swinhoe) were least abundant species. Variations in the calculated diversity indices across the seasons were observed; wherein, summer season exhibited maximum value for Shannon-Diversity index, followed by late monsoon and early winter. Lowest diversity of butterflies was observed during the periods of late winter. Presence of seven species under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act and five species as rare, substantiate the importance of pristine conditions prevailing in the protected landscape of the reserve. Ongoing tourism activities and habitat alterations threatening butterfly diversity and ecological integrity of the CTR, were also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

(Modified from Ref. Badola et al. 2010)

Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anonymous (2006) The Wildlfe (Protection) Act, 1972. Natraj Publishers, Dehradun

    Google Scholar 

  • Arora GS (1994) Lepidoptera: butterflies. Fauna of conservation areas. Zool Surv India Fauna Rajaji Natl Park 5:245–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Arora GS (1995) Lepidoptera: rhopalocera. In: Fauna of Nanda Devi biosphere reserve. Ecosystem Series, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, vol 1, pp 61–73

  • Arya MK, Tamta P, Dayakrishna (2016) Species composition, distribution and diversity of butterflies along altitudinal gradients in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. In: Arya MK, Bharati PK, Joshi R (eds) Biological diversity and ecology. Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi, pp 1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Arya MK, Tamta P, Verma A (2018) Systematic survey on alpha diversity of anthophilous insect fauna in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya. Entomon 43:99–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Badola R, Hussain SA, Mishra BK, Konthoujam B, Thapliyal S, Dhakate PM (2010) An assessment of ecosystem services of Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Environmentalist 30:320–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhardwaj M, Uniyal VP (2011) High-altitude butterfly fauna of Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand: patterns in species, abundance composition and similarity. ENVIS Bull 14:38–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhardwaj M, Uniyal VP, Sanyal AK, Singh AP (2012) Butterfly communities along an elevational gradient in the Tons valley, Western Himalayas: implications of rapid assessment for insect conservation. J Asia Pac Entomol 15:207–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair RB, Launer AE (1997) Butterfly diversity and human land use: species assemblages along an urban gradient. Biol Cons 80:113–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonebrake TC, Ponisio LC, Boggs CL, Ehrlich PR (2010) More than just indicators: a review of tropical butterfly ecology and conservation. Biol Cons 143:1831–1841

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199:1302–1310

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foottit RG, Adler PH (2009) Insect biodiversity: science and society. Blackwell Publishing Limited, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadgil M, Meher-Homji VM (1986) Role of protected areas in conservation. In: Chopra VL, Khoshoo TN (eds) Conservation for productive agriculture. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, pp 143–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Grøtan V, Lande R, Engen S, Sæther BE, DeVries PJ (2012) Seasonal cycles of species diversity and similarity in a tropical butterfly community. J Anim Ecol 81:714–723

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grøtan V, Lande R, Chacon IA, DeVries PJ (2014) Seasonal cycles of diversity and similarity in a Central American rainforest butterfly community. Ecography 37:509–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta H, Tiwari C, Diwakar S (2019) Butterfly diversity and effect of temperature and humidity gradients on butterfly assemblages in a sub-tropical urban landscape. Trop Ecol 60:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer O, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: palaeontological statistics software package for education and data analysis, Palaeontol Electron

  • Haribal M (1992) The butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their natural history. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation, Sikkim

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes L, Mann DJ, Monastyrskii AL, Lewis OT (2009) Rapid assessments of tropical dung beetle and butterfly assemblages: contrasting trends along a forest disturbance gradient. Insect Conserv Divers 2:194–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Heikkilä M, Kaila L, Mutanen M, Pena C, Wahlberg N (2012) Cretaceous origin and repeated tertiary diversification of the redefined butterflies. Proc R Soc B 279:1093–1099

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hogsden KL, Hutchinson TC (2004) Butterfly assemblages along a human disturbance gradient in Ontario, Canada. Can J Zool 82:739–748

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussain KJ, Ramesh T, Satpathy KK, Selvanayagan M (2011) Seasonal dynamics of butterfly population in DAE Campus, Kalapakkam, Tamil Nadu, India. J Threat Taxa 3:1401–1414

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN (2019) The red list of threatened species. www.iucnredlist.org. Assessed 20 Aug 2019

  • Jhala YV, Qureshi Q, Gopal R (2015) The status of tigers, copredators and prey in India 2014. National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun

  • Joshi PC (2007) Community structure and habitat selection of butterflies in Rajaji National Park, a moist deciduous forest in Uttaranchal, India. Trop Ecol 48:119–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshi PC, Arya M (2007) Butterfly communities along altitudinal gradients in a protected forest in the Western Himalayas, India. Nat Hist J Chulalongkorn Univ 7:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshi PC, Kumar K, Arya M (2008) Assessment of insect diversity along an altitudinal gradient in Pindari forests of Western Himalaya, India. J Asia Pac Entomol 11:5–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehimkar I (2014) The book of Indian butterflies. Bombay Natural History, Society Oxford University Press, Mumbai

    Google Scholar 

  • Khyade VB, Jagtap SG (2017) Butterflies diversity in Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary of Baramati Tehsil in Pune district (India). J Entomol Zool Stud 5:443–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar P (2008a) Insecta: Lepidoptera (Rhopalocera); fauna of Corbett Tiger Reserve. Conserv Area Ser Zool Surv India Kolkata 35:205–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar P (2008b) Handbook on common butterflies of Uttarakhand. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar K, Joshi PC, Arya M (2017) Variation in population density and biomass of butterflies in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), West Himalaya, Uttarakhand. J Environ Biosci 31:9–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunte KJ (1997) Seasonal patterns in butterfly abundance and species diversity in four tropical habitats in northern Western Ghats. J Biosci 22:593–603

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunte K (2000) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press, Hyderabad

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead PJD, Paterson GLJ, Gage JD (1997) Biodiversity Professional, Version 2.0. The Natural History Museum and The Scottish Association for Marine Science

  • Lodh R, Agarwala BK (2016) Rapid assessment of diversity and conservation of butterflies in Rowa Wildlife Sanctuary: an Indo-Burmese hotspot-Tripura, N.E. India. Trop Ecol 57:231–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Lohbeck M, Bongers F, Martinez-Ramos M, Poorter L (2016) The importance of biodiversity and dominance for multiple ecosystem functions in a human-modified tropical landscape. Ecology 97:2772–2779

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Padhey AD, Dahanukar N, Paigankar M, Deshpande M, Deshpande D (2006) Season and landscape wise distribution of butterflies in Tamhini, northern Western Ghats, India. Zoos’ Print J 21:2175–2181

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard E (1979) A national scheme for monitoring the abundance of butterflies. Proc Trans 12:77–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard E, Yates TJ (1993) Monitoring butterflies for ecology and conservation. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Primack RB (2014) Essentials of conservation biology. Sinauer Associates Publishers, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajagopal T, Sekar M, Manimozhi A, Baskar N, Archunan G (2011) Diversity and community structure of butterfly of Arinagar Anna Zoological Park, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. J Environ Biol 32:201–207

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roy A, Rathore P (2018) Land-use dynamics in Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India using CA-Markov and agent based LULC-SaarS model. Curr Sci 115:136–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Sajjad A, Saeed S, Syed B (2012) Year long association of butterfly populations with flowering plants in Multan, Pakistan. Pakistan Entomol 34:105–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Shobana G, Gunasekaran C, Lena M, Agnes D, Sharmila BA (2012) Diversity and abundance of butterflies in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu, South India. Int J Recent Sci Res 3:637–639

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh AP (2009) Butterflies of Kedarnath Musk Deer Reserve, Garhwal Himalaya, India. J Threat Taxa 1:37–48

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh AP (2017) Butterflies of India. Om Books International, Noida

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh AP, Sondhi S (2016) Butterflies of Garhwal, Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya, India. J Threat Taxa 8:8666–8697

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh A, Reddy VS, Singh JS (1995) Analysis of woody vegetation of Corbett National Park, India. Vegetatio 120:69–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Sondhi S, Kunte K (2018) Butterflies of Uttarakhand—a field guide. Titli Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiple AD, Khurad A (2009) Butterfly species diversity, habitats and seasonal distribution in and around Nagpur city. Central India World J Zool 4:153–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Uniyal VP, Mathur PK (1998) Diversity of butterflies in the great Himalayan National Park, Western Himalaya. Indian J For 21:150–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Uniyal VP, Bhardwaj M, Sanyal AK (2013) An assessment of entomofauna for management and conservation of biodiversity in the Gangotri landscape. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Head, Department of Zoology, D.S.B. Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital, for providing necessary facilities. Sincere thanks to the Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve and forest authorities of Ramnagar Forest Division, for permission and co-operation to carry out the present study. Special thanks to anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions made in the manuscript. Financial assistance provided by University Grant Commission, New Delhi during the study period is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Insect Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Zoology, D. S. B. Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital, 263002, Uttarakhand, India

    Manoj Kumar Arya,  Dayakrishna & Aman Verma

Authors
  1. Manoj Kumar Arya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dayakrishna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Aman Verma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manoj Kumar Arya.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 29 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Arya, M.K., Dayakrishna & Verma, A. Patterns in distribution of butterfly assemblages at different habitats of Corbett Tiger Reserve, Northern India. Trop Ecol 61, 180–186 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-020-00077-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-020-00077-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation