A cross taxonomic comparison of bird and butterfly communities of Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary across two decades.

Abstract

Human disturbance can alter the structure and function of ecological communities. We studied bird and butterfly communities of Tamhini wildlife sanctuary to understand the effects two decades of changing land use and management. We replicated a previous study conducted between 1998 and 2001, sampling 7 line transects every fortnight between April 2016 and April 2017. We analyzed the diversity and structure of functional groups and compared our findings to previous surveys. Species diversity increased for both taxa, however, community composition was significantly different across studies. Changing land may affect multiple trophic levels and alter community assembly and ecosystem function.