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Jure Jugovic
University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
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Mitja Črne
BIODIVA – Conservation Biologists Society, Kettejeva 1, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
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Živa Fišer Pečnikar
University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
Abstract
Karst meadows belonging to the class Festuco-Brometea are regarded as species-rich habitats of national and European importance. Biodiversity in these areas is relatively high, but unlike most other semi-natural habitat types, it is highly influenced and facilitated by human activities. In the present study we document the presence and estimate abundance of butterfly species from three sampling plots in Kraški rob (SW Slovenia): two dry karst meadows and one pasture, which also includes an overgrown area. Over 16-day sampling occasions in May and June 2012, 63 species (including species complexes) were recorded. Nearly all of the species were recorded from dry karst meadows (60 ssp., 95%), while pasture (34 spp., 54%) and the overgrown site (28 spp., 44%) were less diverse. The abundance of butterflies was the lowest on the overgrown area. Although both grazing and overgrowth result in a decline in the number and abundance of species, we believe that traditional land use positively affects butterfly diversity, as it maintains open grasslands, a habitat that is preferred by most butterfly species to the later phases of succession. We therefore recommend the maintenance of a mosaic landscape structure, as it supports a wide range of butterfly fauna.
Keywords
traditional land-use, grazing, Kraški rob (Karst edge), habitat management
