A global biogeographic regionalization for butterflies.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Biogeography
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Global biodiversity partitioning into biogeographic regions is vital for understanding ecological processes and prioritizing conservation.
• Fine-scale biogeographic regionalization is hindered by a lack of comprehensive species distribution data for many taxa.
• Butterflies are ecologically and culturally significant insects, making them ideal for studying global biodiversity patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To delineate global biogeographic regions for butterflies using phylogenetic dissimilarity.
• To identify the environmental factors shaping these regions.
• To provide a framework for prioritizing conservation efforts for butterflies and global biodiversity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a recent butterfly phylogeny and curated native range maps for over 10,000 species.
• Applied phylogenetic dissimilarity to delimit biogeographic regions.
• Correlated regional boundaries with modern climate data (temperature and precipitation seasonality) and historical climate change.

Main Results:

• Identified 19 distinct butterfly phyloregions nested within 6 broader realms.
• Found that modern temperature and precipitation seasonality predict regional boundaries.
• Observed that historical climate change significantly influences deeper-level realm boundaries.

Conclusions:

• Phylogenetic dissimilarity effectively delineates global biogeographic regions for butterflies.
• Both contemporary climate and historical climate change are key drivers of butterfly distribution patterns.
• This research provides a foundation for targeted conservation strategies to preserve evolutionary history and biodiversity.