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Relationship of butterfly diversity with nectar plant species richness in and around the Aokigahara primary woodland of Mount Fuji, central Japan

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Abstract

We examined the relationships between the diversities of vegetation, adult nectar plants, and butterflies in and around the Aokigahara primary woodland on the northwestern footslopes of Mount Fuji, central Japan. The results showed that the nectar resource utilization by adult butterflies was significantly biased to herbaceous plants, especially to perennials, compared to woody species, although most of the study area was in and near a primary woodland. There were greater nectar plant species in sites with greater plant species richness. Among the butterfly community indices analyzed, the strongest correlation was detected between butterfly species richness and nectar plant species richness at each site. Another close correlation was detected between the species richness of nectar plants and herbaceous plants at each site. These results suggest that herbaceous plant species richness in a habitat plays a central role in its nectar plant species richness, and the nectar plant richness is a highly important factor supporting its adult butterfly species richness. Consequently, we propose that the maintenance and management of herbaceous plant species richness in a butterfly habitat, which lead to those of its nectar plant species richness, are very important for conservation of butterfly diversity even in and around woodland landscapes of temperate regions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the members of the Yamanashi Institute of Environmental Sciences, especially Drs. H. Imaki, Z. Jiang, H. Ueda, and Y. Yoshida, and Mss. M. Watanabe, K. Ogawa, A. Fujisono, and H. Furuya of the lab. of Animal Ecology for their suggestions, help, and cooperation for this study. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (no. 17310138) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to M. Kitahara.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Ecology, Yamanashi Institute of Environmental Sciences (YIES), Kenmarubi, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, 403-0005, Japan

    Masahiko Kitahara & Takato Kobayashi

  2. Mitomi, Yamanashi, 404-0204, Japan

    Mitsuko Yumoto

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  1. Masahiko Kitahara
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  2. Mitsuko Yumoto
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  3. Takato Kobayashi
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Correspondence to Masahiko Kitahara.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 6 List of nectar plant species recorded in the present study, their observed sites (○), the number of butterfly species which utilized the respective nectar plants, and the species name of butterflies, which utilized the respective nectar plants
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Kitahara, M., Yumoto, M. & Kobayashi, T. Relationship of butterfly diversity with nectar plant species richness in and around the Aokigahara primary woodland of Mount Fuji, central Japan. Biodivers Conserv 17, 2713–2734 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9265-4

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