TRENTO, Italy (AP) — In a lush greenhouse high in the Alps, butterflies of various species and colors float freely while butterfly pupae are suspended from a structure as they transform into adult insects.
This is the Butterfly Forest in the tropical mountain greenhouse in Trento, Italy, a project of the Museo delle Scienze (MUSE), an Italian science museum. It is modeled on the Udzungwa Mountains, a mountain range and rainforest area in south-central Tanzania This is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. The Butterfly Forest features plant species endemic to the region, as well as birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates from different parts of the world, all in 600 square meters (about 6,400 square feet) of forest with cliffs, slopes and waterfall.
The Butterfly Forest was created this spring to raise public awareness about some of the research MUSE is carrying out in the 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 a decline in butterflies’ nectar sources, altering the functioning of the ecosystem. It can also limit insect movements, causing a decline in biodiversity and potential extinction of vulnerable butterfly species. Changes in soil and air temperatures are altering insect life cycles, impacting their development rates, mating behaviors and migration patterns. Butterfly populations are declining in many areas, especially in places under intensive land use.
“Our goal is to be able to study better, to better understand what is happening,” said Lisa Angelini, botanist and director of the MUSE greenhouse. “Our work consists of monitoring and trying to develop projects that draw attention to issues related to biodiversity.”
Butterflies are pollinators that allow plants to reproduce and therefore facilitate the production and supply of food. They also serve as food for birds and other animals.
Due to butterflies’ multiple roles in the ecosystem and their high sensitivity to environmental changes, scientists use them as indicators of biodiversity and as a way to study the impact of habitat loss and other threats. “Insects in general play a fundamental role in the proper functioning of ecosystems,” said Mauro Gobbi, entomologist and researcher at MUSE.
Through a partnership with the Tanzania National Parks Authority, MUSE created the Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Center in 2006 to support research as well as the development of environmental education programs for schools.
“Butterfly research is essential to inform conservation efforts and ensure the long-term survival of insects,” said Arafat Mtui, research coordinator at the Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Center. Conservation efforts such as habitat restoration and good land management practices that address the impacts of climate change are essential to protecting butterfly populations, he added.
With at least With 2,500 plant species, more than 120 mammals and thousands of invertebrate species, the Udzungwa Mountains are rich in biological diversity. It is part of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania which are a UNESCO Heritage proposal. He has over 40 endemic butterfly species.
MUSE’s work here is vital because of this variety, said Sevgan Subramanian, principal scientist and head of environmental health at the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi.
“If you want to monitor the health of the ecosystem, monitoring this population diversity of indigenous or endemic insects is very critical, so that we can get an idea of whether the ecosystem is still healthy or not,” he said.
Gobbi, the entomologist, said high-altitude environments like Udzungwa Mountains National Park are suitable for studying the effects of climate change because they generally have no direct human impact.
He and other scientists have warned that the failure to protect insects from the effects of climate change will drastically reduce the planet’s ability to build a sustainable future.
MUSE scientists said the main challenge in butterfly conservation is changing current agricultural policies to increase the amount of low-intensity agricultural land and promote diverse landscapes while preserving remaining patches of natural habitats.
“A lot of times our grandparents used to say ‘there aren’t as many butterflies as there used to be’,” he said. This is “absolutely supported by scientific research, which confirms that butterflies, like other insects, are in crisis. We are losing species, we are losing them forever, and this will break the balance of ecosystems.”
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Mureithi reported from Nairobi, Kenya.
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