Assessing Lepidopteran Diversity in three Selected Land-Use Types in Chebera Churchura National Park and its Surroundings South Western Ethiopia
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Date
2021-06-30
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Following the order of Coleoptera, the Lepidoptera is the second largest order of insects. Currently, Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) comprise about 46 superfamilies, 126 families, and 180,000 species. Lepidopteran biodiversity in three selected land-use types was studied from January 2020 to June 2020, 2020, and around Chebera Churchura National Park, in the southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s region, Southwestern Ethiopia. Three selected land-use types: riverine forest, wooded grassland, and Mosaic habitats were studied. The effects of the diversity of plants on the diversity and abundance of lepidopterans were also studied. Metrological data trend analysis was also studied to investigate the effect of rainfall and temperature on population fluctuations. A sweeping net was used to collect adult butterflies and a light sheet trap was used to collect adult moths. The results showed that 184 species (79 butterfly species and 105 moth species) in 16 families (five families of butterflies and 11 families of moths) were recorded. The Nymphalidae were the most numerous of the five butterfly families studied, while the Hespariidae were the least numerous. Moth families Crambidae, Erbidae and siphingidae were the dominant and Pyralidae was the least. Species richness, composition, and abundance were variable in the different land-use types. Thus, the riverine forest had the highest number of lepidopteran species with 147 species and 5,203 individuals, followed by wooded grassland with 106 species and 3174 individuals and Mosaic habitat with 52 species and 1610 individuals. The Chi-square test results showed that the diversity of butterflies and moths differed significantly between the three habitats. Linear regression was calculated to study the role of the diversity of plants on the diversity of moths and butterflies and the results showed that the effect was not significant. The diversity of Lepidoptera captured varied with the month of sampling and the highest number was recorded in January and the least was recorded in June and the trend of rainfall showed increments and the temperature decreased from January to June. The Sorensen index of similarity and Jaccard’s index of similarity were observed among the three habitats and the highest similarity was found between riverine forest and wooded grass land with 70% for moth habitat and the highest similarity was found between wooded grass land and mosaic habitat with 34% for butterfly habitat. Generally, the habitat was good for moth and butterfly diversity.
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Keywords
Butterflies, Climate Change, Chebera Churchura, Ecological Services, Moths