Restoring a butterfly hot spot by large ungulates refaunation: the case of the Milovice military training range, Czech Republic

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F21%3A43903105" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/21:43903105 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60077344:_____/21:00542115

Result on the web

<a href="https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-021-01804-x" target="_blank" >https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-021-01804-x</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12862-021-01804-x" target="_blank" >10.1186/s12862-021-01804-x</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Restoring a butterfly hot spot by large ungulates refaunation: the case of the Milovice military training range, Czech Republic

Original language description

Background Refaunation/rewilding by large ungulates represents a cost-efficient approach to managing natural biotopes and may be particularly useful for areas whose biodiversity depends on disturbance dynamics and is imperilled by successional changes. To study impacts of refaunation on invertebrates, we focused on butterflies inhabiting the former military training range Milovice, Czech Republic, refaunated since 2015 by a combination of Exmoor pony (&quot;wild&quot; horse), Tauros cattle (&quot;aurochs&quot;), and European wisent. Methods We analysed butterfly presence-absence patterns immediately after the military use termination (early 1990s), prior to the refaunation (2009), and after it (2016-19); and current abundance data gained by monitoring butterflies at refaunated and neglected plots. We used correspondence analysis for the presence-absence comparison and canonical correspondence analysis for the current monitoring, and related results of both ordination methods to the life history and climatic traits, and conservation-related attributes, of recorded butterflies. Results Following the termination of military use, several poorly mobile species inclining towards oceanic climates were lost. Newly gained are mobile species preferring warmer continental conditions. The refaunated plots hosted higher butterfly species richness and abundances. Larger-bodied butterflies developing on coarse grasses and shrubs inclined towards neglected plots, whereas refaunated plots supported smaller species developing on small forbs. Conclusion The changes in species composition following the cessation of military use were attributable to successional change, coupled with changes in species pool operating at larger scales. By blocking succession, large ungulates support butterflies depending on competitively poor plants. Restoring large ungulates populations represents a great hope for conserving specialised insects, provided that settings of the projects, and locally adapted ungulate densities, do not deplete resources for species with often contrasting requirements.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10616 - Entomology

Project

<a href="/en/project/SS01010526" target="_blank" >SS01010526: Mitigation of global climatic change impacts on selected butterfly species of Habitat Directive</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

BMC Ecology and Evolution

ISSN

2730-7182

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

21

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

18

Pages from-to

—

UT code for WoS article

000646837500001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85105212984