Butterfly Forest: A Conservation Effort in Italy

Introduction

Inside 600 square metres of forest in Italy, a critical pollinator is in the spotlight: butterflies.

Various species and colours flutter freely and butterfly pupae are suspended in a structure as they grow into adult insects inside a greenhouse of the Museo delle Scienze (MUSE), a science museum in Trento, Italy.

The ecosystem created in this greenhouse is modelled on part of a mountain range and rainforest area in south-central Tanzania.

The Butterfly Forest Project

“The butterfly forest project is contextualized in the MUZE tropical greenhouse, which is strongly focused on the Tanzanian environment of the Udzungwa Mountains, and this is because the museum has an ecology monitoring centre in Tanzania, in that national park,” Lisa Angelini, MUSE greenhouse director says.

Through a partnership with Tanzania National Parks, MUSE in 2006 established the Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre to support the park in ecological monitoring and biodiversity research, as well as to support development of environmental education programs for schools.

Conservation Efforts

The forest in Trento is designed to create public awareness on some of the research that MUSE is doing in Udzungwa Mountains to study and protect the world’s biodiversity against threats such as deforestation and climate change.

Deforestation leads to habitat loss, which causes declines in nectar sources for butterflies, changing the functioning of the ecosystem.

By fragmenting forests, deforestation limits the movements of the insects and reducing their genetic diversity.

These impacts cause declines in biodiversity and potential extinction of vulnerable butterfly species.

The body temperatures and metabolic rates of butterflies are influenced by air and soil temperatures.

Climate change is altering the life cycles of the insects, impacting their development rates, mating behaviours, and migration patterns.

Butterfly populations are declining in many areas, especially in places under intensive land use.

Conservations Strategies

The scientists behind the Butterfly Forest hope that their research will spur the development of conservation strategies aimed at increasing knowledge of butterfly communities in specific habitats and monitoring their distribution over space and time.

“Our aim is that of being able to study better, to understand better what is happening,” says Lisa Angelini, a botanist and director of the MUSE greenhouse. “Our work consists of monitoring and trying to give, to develop projects in order to bring attention to biodiversity-related issues, so that we can always do better.”

The butterflies fluttering around the facility are currently mainly sourced from butterfly farming projects in Costa Rica and feature insects native to South America and Asia, for reasons of transport and availability.

The Importance of Butterflies

Butterflies are key pollinators that enable plants to reproduce and therefore facilitating food production and supply.

They are also food for birds and other animals. The insects are indicators of biodiversity and scientists use them as models to study the impacts of habitat loss and other threats.

“Insects in general play a fundamental role in the proper functioning of ecosystems,” says Mauro Gobbi, an entomologist and a researcher at MUSE.

Udzungwa Mountains

With at least 2,500 plant species, more than 120 mammals, and thousands of invertebrate species, Udzungwa Mountains is rich in biological diversity and has more than 40 endemic species of butterflies.

It’s part of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania that are a proposed UNESCO Heritage site.

High-altitude environments like Udzungwa Mountains National Park are highly suitable for studying the effects of climate change because they usually have no direct human impact, says Gobbi.

The Tropical Greenhouse

The tropical greenhouse in Trento has more than 200 plant species and 13 animal species.

It features plant species endemic to the Eastern Arc mountains, as well as birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates such as butterflies, all inside 600 square metres of forest that has a waterfall, cliffs and inclinations.

Conclusion

The Butterfly Forest project is an important conservation effort that aims to raise awareness about the importance of butterflies and the threats they face. By studying the impacts of climate change and deforestation on butterfly populations, scientists can develop effective conservation strategies to protect these critical pollinators.

FAQs

Q: What is the purpose of the Butterfly Forest project?

A: The purpose of the project is to raise awareness about the importance of butterflies and the threats they face, and to develop effective conservation strategies to protect these critical pollinators.

Q: What is the significance of Udzungwa Mountains?

A: Udzungwa Mountains is a rich biodiversity hotspot with over 2,500 plant species, more than 120 mammals, and thousands of invertebrate species, including over 40 endemic species of butterflies.

Q: What is the impact of climate change on butterfly populations?

A: Climate change is altering the life cycles of butterflies, impacting their development rates, mating behaviours, and migration patterns, leading to declines in butterfly populations.

Q: What can be done to protect butterfly populations?

A: To protect butterfly populations, it is essential to change current farming policies to increase the amount of low-intensity farmland, promote heterogeneous landscapes, and limit the distribution of monocultures.