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

Butterfly Diversity in the Three Selected Areas in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Md. Aminul Islam
Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Md. Abul Kashem
Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Md. Abdul Alim
Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Fatema-Tuz-Zohora
Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The diversity of butterfly species was studied from January to June 2015 in the three selected areas, viz. Ramna Park, Jagannath University Campus, and Baldha Garden in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. A total 75 species of butterfly belonging to 42 genera under 8 families were recorded from the study areas during the study period. Of them, 52 species (6253 individuals) of 8 families were found in the Ramna Park, 37 species (1430 individuals) of 7 families in the Jagannath University Campus and 20 species (320 individuals) of 6 families in the Boldha Garden. In these three study areas, 17 species, 14 genera and 6 families were in common. At the Ramna Park, the highest species richness included the family Lycaenidae (21.15%, 11 spp.) followed by Papilionidae (17.31%, 9 spp.), Pieridae (17.31%, 9 spp.), Nymphalidae (17.31%, 9 spp.), Hesperiidae (13.46%, 7 spp.), Danaidae (7.69%, 4 spp.), Satyridae (3.85%, 2 spp.), and the lowest was in the family Acriidae (1.92%, 1 spp.). At the Jagannath University Campus the highest number of species were recorded in the family Lycaenidae (21.62%, 8 spp.) and Hesperiidae (21.62%, 8 spp.) followed by Pieridae (18.92%, 7 spp.), Papilionidae (13.51%, 5 spp.), Nymphalidae (10.81%, 4 spp.), Danaidae (10.81%, 4 spp.), and the lowest was in Satyridae (2.70%, 1 spp.). The topmost butterfly species were recorded in the family Pieridae (25%, 5 spp.) followed by Lycaenidae (20%, 4 spp.), Nymphalidae (20%, 4 spp.), Papilionidae (15%, 3 spp.), and the lowest from the family Hesperiidae (10%, 2 spp.) and Danaidae (10%, 2 spp.) at the Baldha Garden. The maximum butterfly species were found in February to June (51 spp.), February (34 spp.), and April (16 spp.), and the lowest were in January (46 spp.), June (21 spp.) and January (8 spp.), respectively for the Ramna Park, Jagannath University Campus and the Baldha Garden. The peak of the population observed in May (n =1285), March (n = 325), and May (n = 71), and the lowest was in January (n = 662), June (n = 145) and January (n = 21), respectively for the Ramna Park, Jagannath University Campus, and Baldha Garden. The Shanon’s Diversity Index (H) and Simpson’s Index (λ) indicated high butterfly diversity at the Ramna Park (H = 3.68, λ = 0.03), Jagannath University Campus (H = 3.20, λ = 0.06) and Baldha Garden (H = 2.50, λ = 0.13), respectively. The high Species Evenness in the Ramna Park (E = 0.93), Jaganath University Campus (E = 0.89) and the Baldha Garden (E = 0.84) indicated that the species were evenly distributed. The calculated Sorenson’s Coefficient (CC) was 0.47, which indicates that these three communities have quite a bit of overlap or similarity.

Keywords: Butterfly Diversity, Diversity Index, Species Evenness, Community Similarity, Sorenson’s Coefficient.

Location: Ramna Park, Jagannath University Campus, and Baldha Garden in Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

Start Date: 00-01-2015

End Date: 00-06-2015

Program Area: Pest Management

Commodity: Butterfly

Objectives:

To evaluate the diversity, species richness and evenness and community similarity of butterfly fauna of the three selected places of the Dhaka city.

Methodology:

Study area: The study was conducted in the following 3 selected areas in Dhaka city: Ramna Park: It is located at the center of the Dhaka city. The geological coordinates are Latitude: 23°44'14.70" N Longitude: 90°24'03.4" E. The total area is 68.50 acres. There are 71 species of flowering trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals, 41 species of forestry, 36 species of fruit-bearing plants, 33 species of medicinal plants, and 11 other species. Jagannath University Campus: It is located at the southern part of the Dhaka city. The geological co-ordinates are Latitude: 23°42'32.4" N and Longitude: 90°24'38.16" E. Total area is 7.5 acres. It can be compared with the overall vegetation trend of the Dhaka city. Most of its areas are covered with the concrete buildings while the botanical garden, life, and earth science faculty are the oasis of this area. The variety of species stretches from shrubs to medicinal plant and flower-bearing trees. Baldha Garden: It is located at the south eastern part of the Dhaka city. The geological co-ordinates are Latitude: 23°43'06'' N and Longitude: 90°25'04'' E. It is 3.15 acres compact area with variety of vegetation. There is a wide variation of floral species occurred in the Baldha garden especially in the psyche section. There are about 600 species of plants from around the world cultured here. Materials: Sweep net, camera, collecting jar and polythene bag, forceps and needle, envelopes, permanent ink pen, label paper and magnifying glass were used as physical materials. The biological materials were butterflies and the related plants. Sampling and Identification: Butterflies were observed during sunny days at a constant speed from 7 am to 2 pm (BST) four days in a month through walking transect (Caldas and Robbins 2003). Butterfly Identification was carried out by using the keys developed and used by Marshall de Niceville (1883), Bingham (1905), Evans (1932), Wynter-Blyth (1957), Talbot (1978), Bashar (2014), and Encyclopedia of fauna (Ahmed et al. 2009). On the basis of abundance the observed butterflies were categorized in five categories in the three study areas. Species which observed a total of abundance exceeding 100 individuals were described as very common (VC: > 100 sightings), common (C: 50–100 sightings), not rare (NR: 15–49 sightings), rare (R: 3–14 sightings), very rare (VR: 1–2 sightings) (Nidup et al. 2014). Diversity Analysis: The study used Shannon’s Diversity Index (H) (Shannon and Weiner 1949) and Simpson’s Index (λ) (Simpson 1949) as models as a measure of diversity. The equations for the two indices: Shannon’s Diversity Index (H) = -∑ , Simpson’s Index (λ) = ∑ Where, p is the proportion (n/N) of individuals of one particular species found (n) divided by the total number of individuals found (N), is the natural log, Σ is the sum of the calculations and S is the number of species. Optimum values of H are generally between 1.5 and 3.5 in most ecological researches, and the index is rarely greater than 4. Shannon’s Diversity Index is mathematical measurement to define community composition (number of species) and commonness of species in a community. It increases as both the richness and the evenness of the community increase (Shannon and Weiner 1949). Opposite to this, the Simpson’s Index (λ) is the mathematical representation of the similarity index. The range of ? is from 0 to 1 (Simpson 1949). Higher the index means lower the diversity. It is the strength of dominance, because it weights towards the abundance of the most common species and varies inversely with species diversity (Whittaker 1972). Simpson’s Index of Diversity (1- λ): It is a measure of diversity. The probability of two randomly selected individuals in a community belongs to different categories e.g. species. The value of 1- λ ranges between 0 and 1, where, high scores (close to 1) show high diversity and low scores (close to 0) show low diversity (Simpson 1949). Simpson’s Reciprocal Index (1/λ): The relative biodiversity of a community can be measured by it. It can be used to compare communities to identify intrinsic qualities. A high index value indicates a stable site with many different richness and low competition. A low index value shows a site with a few potential niches where only a few species dominate. The index value may alter in response to the ecological interference (MacDonald et al. 2017). Species evenness (E): It refers to how close in number each species an environment is. The equation is: E = . The range of E is from 0 to 1.The value of E trends to 0 indicates that the species is more dominant in a community, E nears to 1 refers to evenly distributed (Shannon and Weiner 1949). Community Similarity: It is measured by Sorenson’s Coefficient (CC). The equation is: Sorenson’s Coefficient (CC) = , Where C is the number of species the three communities have in common, S1 is the total number of species found in community 1, S2 is the total number of species found in community and S3 is the total number of species found in community 3 (Sorensen 1948). Sorenson’s coefficient gives a value between 0 and 1, the closer the value is to 1, the more the communities have in common. Entire community overlap is equal to 1; entire community dissimilarity is equal to 0 (Sorensen 1948).

Source of Information: Bangladesh J. Zool. 48(2): 413-428, 2020 ISSN: 0304-9027, eISSN: 2408-8455

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The present research has revealed butterfly biodiversity and prepared checklists in the study areas. This study revealed 75 butterfly species belongings to 42 genera under 8 major families. On the basis of the data, conservation of wide range of indigenous butterfly fauna in these small human dominated landscapes might be a good model for maintaining most favourable habitat within fragments. Acknowledgement: The authors are grateful to the Ramna Park, Jagannath University Campus and Baldha Garden authorities for giving permission and support to conduct this work.

Knowledge Management: Journal