Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Status of Lycaenid Butterflies in Some Selected Forests of Bangladesh

Akand, S.
Environmental Biology and Biodiversity Laboratory (EBBL), Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

M. A. Bashar
Environmental Biology and Biodiversity Laboratory (EBBL), Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

H. R. Khan
Environmental Biology and Biodiversity Laboratory (EBBL), Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A field investigation was carried out from January 2015 to December 2017 to study the status of some lycaenid butterflies in some selected forest areas of Bangladesh. A total of 6,724 lycaenids was recorded from Butterfly Research Park at Bhawal National Park, Gazipur; Madhupur National Park, Tangail; Satchori National Park and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary of Habigonj. The dominant species was Arhopala pseudocentaurus with 21.85% relative frequency and the least abundant species was Rathinda amor with 0.75% relative frequency. Butterfly Research Park showed the maximum number of butterfly individuals with a covariance of 40% followed by Madhupur National Park (37%), Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (13%), and Satchori National Park (10%). A significant difference (F = 3.52, p-value = 0.02) has been assessed using „One-way ANOVA? test. The difference in the availability of butterflies in different habitats indicated the differences in plant diversity among the forests. Lycaenid butterflies displayed highest abundance (13.19%) in December and lowest (5.38%) in October. There was no significant difference (F = 0.72, p-value = 0.71) among different months throughout the study period in overall species abundance though highest number was recorded in December. The abiotic factors (viz. temperature and relative humidity etc.) influence the presence of butterflies. Lycaenid butterflies demonstrated the highest abundance (887) in 26.9°C along with 64% relative humidity whereas the least abundance (362) has been recorded at 31.7°C with 77% relative humidity. The significant negative correlation was found in between lycaenid abundance and temperature (r = 0.45, pvalue = 0.14), and between lycaenid abundance and relative humidity (r = 0.19, p-value = 0.54). The butterfly population increased with decreasing average temperature and relative humidity during the study period. This investigation reveals the differences in the availability of lycaenid butterflies in relation to the differences in plant population and also the effect of abiotic factors in the forest areas.

Keywords: Abundance; Population dynamics; Lycaenid butterflies; Abiotic factors.

Location: Bhawal National Park (BNP), Gazipur, and three natural forests: Madhupur National Park (MNP), Tangail; Satchori National Park (ScNP) and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (RKS) of Habigonj

Start Date: 00-01-2015

End Date: 00-12-2017

Program Area: Pest Management

Commodity: Butterfly

Objectives:

The present study has been envisaged with an outlook to examine the abundance and dynamics of lycaenid population through temporal and spatial patterns.

Methodology:

The present research work was carried out from January 2015 to December 2017. The findings were accumulated based on the observation of four different forest areas, viz. Butterfly Research Park (BRP) a semi natural ecosystem at the Bhawal National Park (BNP), Gazipur, and three natural forests: Madhupur National Park (MNP), Tangail; Satchori National Park (ScNP) and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (RKS) of Habigonj . The BRP is an area of three acres (100×42 m²) land in the premises of Bhawal National Park. The area is situated at 9⁰024′06″E longitude and 24⁰05′06′′N latitude. This area is designed with four area-components as hedge-boundary (10%), canopy-tree area (30%), jungle-bush hedges (30%) and multimorphic bed-areas (30% of total experimental area). The MNP is deciduous with a slight mixture of evergreen forest, interspersed with hillocks. It lies between 24º45'N and 90º5'E, and encompasses an area of 8,430 ha. The ScNP occupies at 91°27′2.52″E longitude and 24°7′12″N latitude, and built on 243 hectors of land. The Park originally supported vegetation covering mixed tropical evergreen forests. The RKS is situated in between 24°10′53″N and 91°38′13″E. It is a tropical forest with natural and cultivated plantations under Kalenga beat. The population abundance of lycaenids was investigated by using transect counting, Latin squares design (LSD) of sampling, and 4-assessors„ butterfly-plant assessment model?. Transect counting was made following Pollard (1977), Pollard and Yates (1993) and Natuhara et al. (1996). The butterfly populations were estimated following Bashar (2017) with a slight modification of experimental transect as 100×100 m2. LSD was adopted following Rao and Richard (2006) with modifications as suggested by Bashar (2017). The „butterfly-plant assessment model? was used which dealt with the practice to record butterflies. Four assessors were assigned in the field (100 m² area); this procedure was followed according to Bashar (2017). The presence of lycaenid butterflies were assessed following Akand et al. (2016). The butterfly activities in the study sites were recorded through a “constant walk” for 10-15 minutes along the experimental sites. Observations were made twice in a month during the time between 9.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m., and recorded the individual numbers of lycaenid species. The pre mating, mating, egg laying, foraging, basking, resting, puddling and flying activities of lycaenids were counted to assess their Butterfly species were identified directly in the field or in difficult cases following photography. The daily readings of abiotic factors (temperature and relative humidity) on each sampling day were recorded and used for the calculation of monthly mean temperature and relative humidity. One-way ANOVA was used to calculate the differences and Pearson?s rank correlation is used to assess the relationships of abundance within experimental sites and months during the study period. The Spearman rank correlation is used to assess the relationship between butterfly abundance and abiotic factors.

Source of Information: J. biodivers. conserv. bioresour. manag. 5(2), 2019

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/jbcbm.v5i2.44911

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Butterflies can also indicate the dominating plant species in a forest and also can indicate whether the forest is going to be critical stage very soon or not. Therefore, the present study is a special effort for knowledge amalgamation about the fluctuation pattern of lycaenid population in different habitats with biotic and abiotic influence. Further researches on lycaenid diversity in forest ecosystem and the factors that affect their population dynamics will be rewarding experience.

Knowledge Management: Journal