What Defines an Urban Butterfly? - Life History Traits and Habitat Associations in Urban Environments

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra

Urban areas expanding into semi-natural habitats drive butterfly assemblages toward homogenisation, reducing species richness compared with the wider countryside. Identifying which life history and habitat association traits characterise urban-associated butterflies can improve management aimed at enhancing urban biodiversity. Using published United Kingdom information, the study applies principal component analysis to define urban-associated characteristics for conservation guidance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

1 What defines an urban butterfly? Life history traits and habitat associations of 2 butterflies in urban environments 3 Neal, Willow 1, 2, Araya, Yoseph 1, 3, and Wheeler, Philip M.1, 4 4 1 School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton 5 Keynes, United Kingdom. 6 2 ORCiD: 0000-0002-3219-4749 7 3 ORCiD: 0000-0001-7338-3653 8 4 ORCiD: 0000-0002-2056-6605 9 Correspondence 10 Willow Neal, School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, 11 Milton Keynes, [UK. Email: willow.neal@open.ac.uk](UK. Email: willow.neal@open.ac.uk) 12 Abstract 13 Urban areas are encroaching onto semi-natural areas the world over, driving species 14 assemblages into homogenisation. A better understanding of the life history and 15 habitat association traits can help support management efforts to improve urban 16 biodiversity. Urban areas present an ecological filter, limiting the number of species 17 present compared to the wider countryside. What characteristics help define an urban 18 species may also aid in conservation efforts and improve urban biodiversity. Our 19 research aims to identify the subset of butterflies associated with urban areas based on 20 published information about life history traits and broad habitat associations of 21 butterflies in the United Kingdom to define their characteristics. Principal component 22 analysis revealed a group of thirty butterfly species with traits associated with urban 23 areas. This represents 51% of all British species, including 3 habitat specialists. Urban 24 butterflies were closely associated with preference for woodland glades, a habitat that 25 is mirrored in urban areas by the presence of hedgerows and grassland/woodland 26 edges around urban woodlands. Life history traits associated with urban species 27 included negative association with egg laying on short turfs and herbs, perhaps 28 because of the intensive nature of much urban grassland management, and positive 29 correlations with multivoltinism, the latter of which is closely associated with 30 effective dispersal capability and habitat generalism. This research highlights the 31 characteristics of some butterflies which make them suited to urban environments and 32 points towards habitat management that might support these species as well as 33 identifying opportunities for management to broaden the diversity of urban butterflies. 34 35 Introduction 36 The importance of urban nature is becoming increasingly recognised (Dearborn and Kark, 37 2010; Botzat, Fischer and Kowarik, 2016) . Yet, it is characteristic of urban spaces to be under 38 intense management, for example, being mown regularly, which negatively impacts botanical 39 diversity (Rudolph et al., 2017; Chollet et al., 2018; Proske, Lokatis and Rolff, 2022) . 40 Management of “weeds”, sometimes with herbicides that have the potential to 41 indiscriminately harm all plant species is common, with cascading effects on biodiversity 42 (Ignatieva et al., 2020) . It is widely recognised that urbanisation has a negative impact on 43 biodiversity (Aronson et al., 2014) but urban areas can be designed and managed to support it 44 through the use of green spaces and connective habitat networks (Faeth, Bang and Saari, 45 2011; Nilon, 2011) with well managed urban woodlands being particularly important for 46 butterflies (Neal, Araya and Wheeler, 2024) . Urban areas are also under unique pressures 47 including high degrees of fragmentation (Ramalho et al., 2014), which negatively effects 48 dispersal (Gorton and Shaw, 2023), and often a patchy structure on the landscape scale with 49 small, potentially isolated fragments. Therefore, species that are tolerant of the urban 50 landscape likely fall into a subset of butterflies that are highly dispersal-capable and tolerant 51 of disturbance (Wood and Pullin, 2002) . To inform management practi

FAQs

Which traits are linked to butterflies that occur in urban areas?

Urban-associated butterflies show strong habitat links, especially to woodland-glade conditions represented in cities by hedgerows and woodland/grassland edges. Life-history traits include patterns related to egg-laying on short turf and herbs, and correlations with multivoltinism tied to dispersal ability and habitat generalism.

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra