Assessment of butterflies diversity, and distribution in Ghamot National Park, Western Himalaya, Neelum valley, Pakistan

Abstract

Biodiversity measures, species richness and species evenness. Species richness means the number of species present in designated area whereas evenness stands for relative abundance of each species. Butterflies are very important economically. They feed on nectar from flowers by using proboscis. Butterflies act as excellent bio indicator of health of natural ecosystem. The fauna in the study area lacks comprehensive documentation hence there has been no previous assessment of butterfly biodiversity. The study was conducted to estimate species richness, species evenness, and species diversity through a comparative analysis across different habitat types. The Pollard walk method, specifically a butterfly transects count and visual Surveys was used to collect specimen in Ghamot National Park divided into 8 localities. A total of 37 transects covering an area of 12.55 km 2 were established and observed on a monthly basis from June 2020 to July 2021. A collection of 211 specimens was obtained using various standard methods. In order to assess the butterfly population, diversity metrics including the Shannon-Wiener index, Shannon equitability index, Margalef index, and Simpson index were employed. The study documented a total of 539 individuals representing 16 species and 3 butterfly families in 8 different localities with varying habitats. The forest-dominated zones exhibited the highest abundance (n=266; 49.53%) and species richness (n=15; 93.75). Additionally, the forest zone demonstrated the maximum values for the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (3.77) and Simpson index (0.92), while the riparian zone displayed the lowest diversity (3.02) and Simpson index (0.89)  among the four selected localities. Therefore, it is recommended that regular monitoring of the study area be undertaken to observe potential fluctuations in butterfly diversity. Continuous surveillance and comparative analysis of data from year to year are essential for identifying any shifts in butterfly populations