Seasonal diversity and abundance distribution of butterflies in Dihing Patkai national park, North East India

Dihing Patkai National Park of North-East India is Dipterocarp-dominated tropical wet evergreen forests in the Indo-Myanmar Hotspot. The diversity and abundance distribution of butterflies in five macrohabitats (Dense Forest, Open Forest, Riparian Vegetation, Roadside Vegetation, and Bamboo Brakes) were studied during the summer, monsoon, and winter seasons from March 2022 to February 2023 in Dihing Patkai National Park. The research work addressed two main research questions: (i) Do the habitats affect the butterflies’ diversity and distribution in Dihing Patkai National Park? (ii) Does the seasonal variation affect the butterflies’ diversity and distribution in Dihing Patkai National Park? The aims of the study were to assess (1) the butterfly species and their distribution across different habitats in Dihing Patkai National Park; and (2) the effect of seasonal variation on butterfly diversity and distribution in Dihing Patkai National Park. A total of 1727 butterflies from 124 species and 6 families, i.e., Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae and Riodinidae, were observed using the Pollard walk technique. The winter season, from October to February, had the highest diversity of butterfly species. Throughout all the seasons, the family Nymphalidae displayed the highest values for α diversity indices. The α diversity indices were highest in the roadside habitat during the summer and monsoon seasons and in open forests in the winter season. An abundance distribution model indicated a significant difference in the abundance of the butterfly species in the open forest and roadside habitat during the summer season and in the open forest during the winter season. The rank-abundance curves showed that the species abundance of butterflies did not differ significantly in all the habitats during the monsoon season. The present study will contribute to the knowledge of seasonal diversity of butterflies and their abundance distribution and will provide baseline information for use in future monitoring of climate change effects in Dipterocarp-dominated tropical wet evergreen forests of Dihing Patkai National Park.