Butterfly Diversity Across Different Land‐Use Types: A Study From Eastern Nepal

Butterfly diversity and populations vary across land‐use types and seasons. Understanding these variations has crucial implications for their effective conservation at local to broad scales. In this study, we investigated butterfly diversity and community composition across land‐use types and months (seasons) in Katari Municipality, eastern Nepal. Butterflies were sampled from May to August 2024 using the Pollard Walk survey method, with transects established across three land‐use types: cropland, forest, and settlement. Leveraging these data, we estimated various Hill diversity indices, community composition, and indicator species. Furthermore, we examined the effects of land‐use types and months on diversity indices using generalized linear models (GLMs). A total of 1168 individual butterflies were recorded, belonging to 82 species, 59 genera, and six families. The family Nymphalidae showed the highest species richness and abundance. The forest exhibited the highest richness, Shannon, and Simpson diversities, while these were lowest in the settlement. Overall diversity differed significantly between the settlement and the forest/cropland. GLMs predicted that land‐use type, especially settlement, was a significant driver of variation in Shannon and Simpson diversities. Butterfly community composition also differed among land‐use types but not among months. The diversities were highest in August and lowest in May, but they did not differ significantly across months. Taken together, this study provided valuable insights into how land‐use types contribute to butterfly diversity and composition at a local scale.