Climate oscillations shape butterfly communities in a coastal degraded urban remnant of the Atlantic Forest in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Fluctuations in climate are key drivers of biodiversity patterns and can influence butterfly ecology, including distribution, abundance, and habitat use. However, few studies have examined these relationships in the Atlantic Forest, where ongoing urban expansion has reduced the original forest to small, isolated fragments. Thus, this study aimed to document the remaining butterfly fauna along the northern coast of Maceió city, Alagoas State, Brazil, and to assess its potential associations with weather variability and climatic seasonality. This study was conducted in a highly degraded area of the Atlantic Forest. Butterfly sampling was carried out weekly with entomological nets along pre-existing trails. Population analyses included abundance fluctuation curves, and climatic data were obtained from INMET to construct a climograph illustrating temperature and precipitation trends. Pearson correlations were used to assess relationships between monthly butterfly abundance and climatic variables. In 144 net hours of sampling effort, we recorded 924 individuals representing 92 species across six butterfly families. We found a negative association between butterfly abundance and temperature and a positive association with precipitation. These findings suggest that butterfly abundance in the evaluated region increases with higher precipitation and decreases as temperatures rise. Future research should focus on species-specific responses to weather fluctuations, especially changes in precipitation patterns due to global change. Because many butterflies may synchronise aspects of their life cycles with rainfall, shifts in precipitation could disrupt their development and resource availability.