Diversity and distribution of butterflies in some thickly populated urban habitats of Guwahati, Assam, India.
Keywords:
Butterfly diversity, diversity indices, species richness, urban biodiversity, Guwahati, AssamAbstract
Exploitation of habitat areas coupled with other numerous anthropogenic activities lead to reduction in species diversity and its distribution. Urban biodiversity is catching the attention of conservationist. Anthropogenic activities are adversely affecting the distribution and diversity of species, many of which are indeed act as bio indicators and they determine the state of ecosystem health of that particular area. A study has been carried out to access the diversity and distribution of butterflies in ten selected urban pockets of Guwahati metropolis (26011’3.84”N-91044’44.88”E), Assam, India, from February 2018 to August 2019. It has been found that 140 species of butterflies belonging to 6 families are present, dominated by Nymphalidae (34 %), followed by Lycaenidae (20 %), Hesperiidae (17%) , Papilionidae (14 %), Pieridae (13%), , and Riodionidae (2%).This study is one of its kind and it suggests that although Guwahati city harbors rich species diversity but diversity and distribution is influenced by anthropogenic activities and therefore this study can open a channel to initiate conservation strategies at the earliest.
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