Butterflies and Environment Changes
Butterflies are very sensitive to environmental change, which makes them excellent indicators of ecosystem health. Their
disappearance from an area often signals an imbalance in the local system as result of habitat destruction.
Increasing temperatures caused by global climate change will ultimately affect the flight season timing of these winged beau-
ties. With warmer temperatures butterflies emerge earlier in the year, and their active flight season occurs earlier," says
Heather Kharouba, lead author of the paper published in 2013 Global Change Biology, and he added.
"This could have several implications for butterflies. If they emerge too early, they could encounter frost and die. Or they
might emerge before the food plants they rely on appear and starve. "Even a slight decline in butterfly population will have
consequences for other species going up the food chain. In addition, emerging earlier than usual can also affect migration
patterns for some of the butterfly species.
Change is normal and constant process, and butterfly populations increase and decrease naturally over periods of many
years. But because butterflies are so dependent on the continual existence of very specific habitat to maintain a healthy
population and good breeding conditions, they are vulnerable to even the slightest imbalance in nature. Human interference
in the environment causes stress on the ecosystem, and nature often cannot adapt quickly enough to compensate for the
changes in the habitat.
Some of the major threats to ecosystems are habitat loss due to industrial and urban development, intensive farming prac-
tices, pollution, and overuse of pesticides. And intense fire suppression, which would seen to be means of protecting habi-
tats, can actually lead to profound ecological changes. This restricts the growth of nectar sources and host plants and has led
to a decline in the population of butterflies. And the invasive exotic species is also a problem, since they may be predators or
may breed more successfully and out-compete native butterflies.
Draining wetlands and reclaiming heathland for agricultural use has led to seriously declining the numbers of butterflies.
Poorly planned housing, industrial development and construction of new roads can cut through fragments critical habitats.
Fragmentation of habitats, where pockets of suitable breeding grounds are left is a serious threat to butterfly survival. Lack
of connecting areas leaves the populations in each fragment isolated and unable to intermingle and breed.