Pinkert Stefan, Farwig Nina, Kawahara Akito Y, Jetz Walter
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2025 May;9(5):789-800. doi: 10.1038/s41559-025-02664-0. Epub 2025 Mar 24.
Insects are in decline and threatened by climate change, yet lack of globally comprehensive information limits the understanding and management of this crisis. Here we uncover a strong concentration of butterfly diversity in rare and rapidly shrinking high-elevation climates. Integrating comprehensive phylogenetic and geographic range data for 12,119 species, we find that global centres of butterfly richness, range rarity and phylogenetic diversity are unusually concentrated in tropical and subtropical mountain systems. Two-thirds of the assessed species are primarily mountain dwelling and mountains hold 3.5 times more butterfly hotspots (top 5%) than lowlands. These hotspots only partially overlap with those of ants, terrestrial vertebrates and vascular plants (14-36%), while butterfly diversity is uniquely concentrated above 2,000 m elevation. We project that up to 64% of the temperature niche space of butterflies in tropical realms will erode by 2070, with the geographically restricted temperature conditions of mountains potentially turning these from refugia to traps for butterfly diversity. Our study identifies critical conservation priorities for butterflies and underscores the need for quantitative global assessments of at least select insect groups to help mitigate biodiversity loss in a rapidly warming world.
昆虫数量正在减少，并受到气候变化的威胁，但缺乏全球范围的全面信息限制了我们对这一危机的理解和应对。在此，我们发现珍稀且迅速萎缩的高海拔气候中蝴蝶多样性高度集中。整合12119个物种的全面系统发育和地理分布数据后，我们发现全球蝴蝶丰富度、分布稀有性和系统发育多样性的中心异常集中在热带和亚热带山区系统。三分之二的评估物种主要栖息于山区，山区的蝴蝶热点地区（前5%）数量是低地的3.5倍。这些热点地区仅部分与蚂蚁、陆地脊椎动物和维管植物的热点地区重叠（14%-36%），而蝴蝶多样性在海拔2000米以上地区尤为集中。我们预计，到2070年，热带地区高达64%的蝴蝶温度生态位空间将受到侵蚀，山区地理上受限的温度条件可能使这些地区从蝴蝶多样性的避难所转变为陷阱。我们的研究确定了蝴蝶保护的关键优先事项，并强调需要对至少部分昆虫类群进行全球定量评估，以帮助缓解快速变暖世界中的生物多样性丧失。
