Changes in Vertical Stratification of Neotropical Nymphalid Butterflies at Forest Edges Are Not Directly Caused by Light and Temperature Conditions.

ABSTRACT: Habitat fragmentation and land use changes threaten neotropical habitats and alter patterns of diversity at forest edges. Like other arthropod assemblages, neotropical fruit-feeding butterfly communities show strong vertical stratification within forests, with some recent work showing its potential role in speciation. At forest edges, species considered to be forest canopy specialists have been observed descending to the forest understory, with the similarity in light conditions between the canopy and understory strata at edges hypothesized to be responsible for this phenomenon. We conducted a study using standardized sampling to document and quantify this edge effect, characterize edge and forest strata, and estimate the relative contributions of temperature and light conditions to change

SUBMITTER: Oye BK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11765654 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature