Biodiversity of butterflies in endosulfan-affected areas of Kerala, India

The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology

Kumar Arvind¹  Tony Grace¹  K. N. Raghavendra¹  G. K. Anushree¹ 

[1] Department of Genomic Science, Central University of Kerala, Periye, 671316, Kasaragod, Kerala, India;

关键词: Butterflies;    Diversity;    Ecosystem;    Endosulfan;    Kerala;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41936-020-00192-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundButterflies are considered as bio-indicators of a healthy and diversified ecosystem. Endosulfan was sprayed indiscriminately in large plantations of Kasaragod district, Kerala which had caused serious threats to the ecosystem. In this study, we surveyed the butterflies for their abundance and diversity in three differentially endosulfan-affected areas viz., Enmakaje—highly affected area, Periye—moderately affected area, Padanakkad—unaffected area, carried out between the end of the monsoon season and the start of the winter season, lasting approximately 100 days. Seven variables viz., butterfly abundance (N), species richness (S), Simpson’s reciprocal index (D), the Shannon–Wiener index (H′), the exponential of the Shannon–Wiener index (expH′), Pielou’s evenness (J) and species evenness (D/S), related to species diversity were estimated, followed by the one-way ANOVA (F = 25.01, p < 0.001) and the Kruskal-Wallis test (H = 22.59, p < 0.001).ResultsA population of three different butterfly assemblages comprised of 2300 butterflies which represented 61 species were encountered. Our results showed that Enmakaje displayed significantly lower butterfly diversity and abundance, compared to the other two communities.ConclusionSo far, this is the first study concerning the effect of endosulfan on the biodiversity of butterfly in the affected areas of Kasaragod, Kerala, India. This study may present an indirect assessment of the persisting effects of endosulfan in the affected areas, suggesting its long-term effects on the ecosystem.

【 授权许可】

CC BY