EFFECTS OF HABITAT ON FRUIT-FEEDING BUTTERFLY DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN NORTHERN VIETNAM

To protect biodiversity and boost ecosystem services, previously disturbed tropical forests are allowed to regenerate, and others are planted, but we need more data on how their biodiversity compares to that of primary forests. Fruit-feeding butterflies can be used as biodiversity indicators for tropical habitats as they can be sampled in a standardized manner and are sensitive to environmental conditions. We sampled fruit-feeding butterflies monthly for a year in a primary forest, a secondary forest (since 1992), and a plantation forest (since 1984) in northern Vietnam. The abundance of the common butterfly species varied in time, but without showing a clear seasonal pattern across species. Overall, 46 species were recorded from 861 individuals. Primary forest contained 34 species, secondary forest 24 species, and plantation forest 22 species. The primary and secondary forest supported higher species richness than the plantation forest. Furthermore, the plantation forest had a distinct butterfly fauna, while the fauna in the secondary forest was a subset of species found in the primary forest. This indicates that plantation forests contribute meaningfully to butterfly diversity but cannot fully replace primary forests. Nevertheless, when secondary forests are allowed to regenerate long enough, they may support a diverse butterfly community that includes many species that are associated with primary forest. This study was funded by the National Science Centre, NCN, Poland (2021/43/B/NZ8/00966).