The Butterfly Effect

The term "Butterfly Effect" has entered popular culture as a result of time-travel tales, although its true meaning is rooted in hard science. Technically speaking, it describes the delicate interdependence of an early ecological change that counteracts a sequence of more unfavorable ecological changes. For instance, a butterfly's wings flapping could cause minute changes in the atmosphere that cause severe weather elsewhere on the planet.

Several models have been created during the last ten years to forecast how climate change would affect biodiversity. Results from these models have indicated some concerning effects of climate change on biodiversity, for instance foreseeing that many plants and animals may become extinct in the next century and that there may be a significant decline in tropical rainforests.

For conservation efforts to be successful, it is crucial to identify the species that are highly at the risk of extinction. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) have previously created a variety of categories to focus attention on species with particular conservation concerns. In several circumstances, these categories' subjectivity and meaning have proven to be troublesome. Despite the inadequacies of the initially developed categories, S.F. Henning & G.A. Henning successfully utilized them. A foundation for the preservation of invertebrates in Africa, including butterflies, was created by this publication milestone.

The assessments of threatened species were greatly aided by the information provided by members of the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa. The tremendous amount of information found in collections around the nation that were created by ardent lepidopterists during the last two centuries was also very valuable (Ball 1994a). The IUCN recently created categories and criteria that enable more impartial assessments of the likelihood of extinction, even in the absence of quantitative data. In the current work, Red List assessments based on the new categories and criteria are presented, and proposals for actions to protect numerous highly localized South African butterfly species from serious risks are made. The biodiversity of butterflies is seriously threatened by human activities.. Some species are more vulnerable to extinction because of their innate biological traits. The local butterfly species that are mostly at risk are typically myrmecophilous (ant-associated) lycaenid species, which are relatively localized, or taxa with a restricted climatic tolerance (S.F. Henning 1983c, 1988b, 1997). It should be emphasized that butterfly larval and adult phases may not be equally impacted by climate change. The biodiversity of butterflies is seriously threatened by human activities.

The existence of butterfly species is threatened by a number of compounding causes, as described by S.F. Henning & G.A. Henning (1989), Samways (1993, 1994), G.A. Henning (1997), New (1997), and Ball (2006). The chance of extinction rising could be the most significant effect of these challenges. Lepidoptera collection has not been demonstrated to endanger any species in South Africa. Significantly, and ironically, improving the conservation status of butterfly species has frequently been a result of better knowledge gained via collecting combined with proper action. The text highlights the taxa for which ethical collecting should be taken into account.Hazards to which butterflies may be vulnerable include urbanization, pesticides, industrial pollution, global climatic changes, rangeland and reserve management practices and croplands. These hazards all result in loss of habitat and niche for the butterfly species. The decline is butterfly populations is a significant marker of extinction of various insect species and plants as butterflies have a low clonal climate adaptation span.