A global database of butterfly species native distributions

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Biogeography
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Butterflies are ecologically vital insects, serving roles in pollination and herbivory.
• Existing global distribution data for butterfly species are insufficient for large-scale ecological and conservation studies.
• Lack of comprehensive data hinders research in ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a comprehensive global database of native butterfly species distributions.
• To enable large-scale analyses in butterfly ecology, biogeography, and conservation.
• To provide open-access data and tools for the scientific community.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an integrative workflow combining occurrence records, alpha hull polygons, and species dispersal capacity.
• Employed species distribution models with natural habitat and environmental variables.
• Generated species-level native distribution maps at a 5-arcmin (~10 km) resolution.

Main Results:

• Developed native range maps for 10,372 extant butterfly species globally.
• Data are available in WGS84 (EPSG:4326) as vector polygons (GeoPackage) and rasters.
• Maps and R scripts are open access, adhering to FAIR data principles.

Conclusions:

• The new database facilitates unprecedented large-scale research on butterfly ecology, biogeography, and conservation.
• Enhanced data accessibility promotes broader scientific inquiry and data sharing.
• This resource is expected to significantly advance biological data sharing and research.