[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-202412-105":59,"doc-detail-202412-en":123},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":116,"head_meta":118,"extra_data":120,"updated_unix":122},105,"en","what-defines-an-urban-butterfly-life-history-traits-and-habitat-associations-in-urban-environments","What Defines an Urban Butterfly? - Life History Traits and Habitat Associations in Urban Environments","","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.",{"@graph":69,"@context":115},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/what-defines-an-urban-butterfly-life-history-traits-and-habitat-associations-in-urban-environments/202412/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/what-defines-an-urban-butterfly-life-history-traits-and-habitat-associations-in-urban-environments/202412.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Ezra","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-09-04",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",12,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Which traits are linked to butterflies that occur in urban areas?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"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.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":117,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":119,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":121,"site_id":62},202412,1788546605,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":124},{"doc_id":121,"user_id":125,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":126,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":127,"file_id":128,"file_url":129,"file_type":130,"file_size":131,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":36,"language":132,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":133,"faqs":134,"seo_title":135,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":122,"read_time":136,"preview_page_count":4},1099514068035,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","1 What defines an urban butterfly? Life history traits and habitat associations of  \n2 butterflies in urban environments  \n3 Neal, Willow 1, 2, Araya, Yoseph 1, 3, and Wheeler, Philip M.1, 4  \n4 1 School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton  \n5 Keynes, United Kingdom.  \n6 2 ORCiD: 0000-0002-3219-4749  \n7 3 ORCiD: 0000-0001-7338-3653  \n8 4 ORCiD: 0000-0002-2056-6605  \n9 Correspondence  \n10 Willow Neal, School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University,  \n11 Milton Keynes, [UK. Email: willow.neal@open.ac.uk](UK. Email: willow.neal@open.ac.uk)  \n12 Abstract  \n13 Urban areas are encroaching onto semi-natural areas the world over, driving species  \n14 assemblages into homogenisation. A better understanding of the life history and  \n15 habitat association traits can help support management efforts to improve urban  \n16 biodiversity. Urban areas present an ecological filter, limiting the number of species  \n17 present compared to the wider countryside. What characteristics help define an urban  \n18 species may also aid in conservation efforts and improve urban biodiversity. Our  \n19 research aims to identify the subset of butterflies associated with urban areas based on  \n20 published information about life history traits and broad habitat associations of  \n21 butterflies in the United Kingdom to define their characteristics. Principal component  \n22 analysis revealed a group of thirty butterfly species with traits associated with urban  \n23 areas. This represents 51% of all British species, including 3 habitat specialists. Urban  \n24 butterflies were closely associated with preference for woodland glades, a habitat that  \n25 is mirrored in urban areas by the presence of hedgerows and grassland/woodland  \n26 edges around urban woodlands. Life history traits associated with urban species  \n27 included negative association with egg laying on short turfs and herbs, perhaps  \n28 because of the intensive nature of much urban grassland management, and positive  \n29 correlations with multivoltinism, the latter of which is closely associated with  \n30 effective dispersal capability and habitat generalism. This research highlights the  \n31 characteristics of some butterflies which make them suited to urban environments and  \n32 points towards habitat management that might support these species as well as  \n33 identifying opportunities for management to broaden the diversity of urban butterflies.  \n34  \n35 Introduction  \n36 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  \n38 intense management, for example, being mown regularly, which negatively impacts botanical  \n39 diversity (Rudolph et al., 2017; Chollet et al., 2018; Proske, Lokatis and Rolff, 2022) .  \n40 Management of “weeds”, sometimes with herbicides that have the potential to  \n41 indiscriminately harm all plant species is common, with cascading effects on biodiversity  \n42 (Ignatieva et al., 2020) . It is widely recognised that urbanisation has a negative impact on  \n43 biodiversity (Aronson et al., 2014) but urban areas can be designed and managed to support it  \n44 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  \n46 butterflies (Neal, Araya and Wheeler, 2024) . Urban areas are also under unique pressures  \n47 including high degrees of fragmentation (Ramalho et al., 2014), which negatively effects  \n48 dispersal (Gorton and Shaw, 2023), and often a patchy structure on the landscape scale with  \n49 small, potentially isolated fragments. Therefore, species that are tolerant of the urban  \n50 landscape likely fall into a subset of butterflies that are highly dispersal-capable and tolerant  \n51 of disturbance (Wood and Pullin, 2002) . To inform management practi","cbCainQsv0rRiboH","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainQsv0rRiboH","pdf",484814,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"Which traits are linked to butterflies that occur in urban areas?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"}]","What Defines an Urban Butterfly? - Life History Traits and Habitat Associations in Urban Environments | PDF",101]