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Extensive climate-induced range shifts in butterflies across the globe

Chowdhury, Shawan ; Aich, Upama ; Antão, Laura ; Pinkert, Stefan ; Akite, Perpetra ; Almeira, Gilberto SS ; Amano, Tatsuya ; Ambrus, Andras ; Badon, Jade A. T. and Baek, Seung-Yun , et al. (2025)
Abstract
Ongoing global change is leading to the widespread redistribution of species1,2. Assessments of shifts in species geographic ranges, however, remain taxonomically biased and geographically limited2, especially for insects. We conducted a global synthesis on butterfly range shifts using a combination of multi-lingual review in 15 languages and expert assessments, compiling data on range shifts for 1758 species (10% of described butterfly species) from 109 countries over the last three decades. In 5 of these countries, over 50% of butterfly species shifted their ranges. Overall, most species showed horizontal range expansion (81%), while 27% contracted their range and 22% shifted in elevation. Expansions were primarily reported in tropical... (More)
Ongoing global change is leading to the widespread redistribution of species1,2. Assessments of shifts in species geographic ranges, however, remain taxonomically biased and geographically limited2, especially for insects. We conducted a global synthesis on butterfly range shifts using a combination of multi-lingual review in 15 languages and expert assessments, compiling data on range shifts for 1758 species (10% of described butterfly species) from 109 countries over the last three decades. In 5 of these countries, over 50% of butterfly species shifted their ranges. Overall, most species showed horizontal range expansion (81%), while 27% contracted their range and 22% shifted in elevation. Expansions were primarily reported in tropical species-rich regions, while 19% of species displayed multiple, concurrent range shifts in different countries, highlighting the complexity of these responses. In addition, there was also variation across families - while one-third of the documented species are nymphalids, pierids and papilionids had the highest proportion of species, experiencing range shift. We pinpoint nine drivers of species redistribution, with climate change and severe weather as most prominent. We suggest a future-focused conservation strategy that emphasises monitoring expansion in underrepresented regions and megadiverse countries, leveraging citizen science, and integrating range shifts into conservation planning. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
publisher
EcoEvoRxiv
DOI
10.32942/X2FH2K
project
Svensk Dagfjärilsövervakning
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3177ed62-1db5-437c-ac7b-f5bedeb87884
date added to LUP
2026-02-25 10:01:12
date last changed
2026-03-06 03:07:27
@misc{3177ed62-1db5-437c-ac7b-f5bedeb87884,
  abstract     = {{Ongoing global change is leading to the widespread redistribution of species1,2. Assessments of shifts in species geographic ranges, however, remain taxonomically biased and geographically limited2, especially for insects. We conducted a global synthesis on butterfly range shifts using a combination of multi-lingual review in 15 languages and expert assessments, compiling data on range shifts for 1758 species (10% of described butterfly species) from 109 countries over the last three decades. In 5 of these countries, over 50% of butterfly species shifted their ranges. Overall, most species showed horizontal range expansion (81%), while 27% contracted their range and 22% shifted in elevation. Expansions were primarily reported in tropical species-rich regions, while 19% of species displayed multiple, concurrent range shifts in different countries, highlighting the complexity of these responses. In addition, there was also variation across families - while one-third of the documented species are nymphalids, pierids and papilionids had the highest proportion of species, experiencing range shift. We pinpoint nine drivers of species redistribution, with climate change and severe weather as most prominent. We suggest a future-focused conservation strategy that emphasises monitoring expansion in underrepresented regions and megadiverse countries, leveraging citizen science, and integrating range shifts into conservation planning.}},
  author       = {{Chowdhury, Shawan and Aich, Upama and Antão, Laura and Pinkert, Stefan and Akite, Perpetra and Almeira, Gilberto SS and Amano, Tatsuya and Ambrus, Andras and Badon, Jade A. T. and Baek, Seung-Yun and Balalaikins, Maksims and Barták, Michal and Barve, Vijay and Bełcik, Michał and Bonebrake, Timothy C. and Bonelli, Simona and Bowler, Diana E. and Braby, Michael F. and Cartig, Roger and Choi, Sei-Woong and Chu, Wen-Chen and Clain, Eloisa and Collins, Steve and Cumplido, Johnattan H. and Dapporto, Leonardo and Gywa, Gideon Deme and Dolek, Matthias and Dolezal, Aleksandra and Firdaus, Fahmi I. and Franzén, Markus and Freitas, André VL and Fuller, Richard and Gensch, Luisa and Grames, Eliza M. and Guariento, Elia and Haywood, Bryan and Hershcovich, Shiran and Jantke, Kerstin and John, Eddie and Kalivoda, Henrik and Karimi, Azadeh and Katayose, Ryosuke and Kawahara, Akito and Khanal, Sujan and Kunte, Krushnamegh and L'Hoste, Lionel and Lenda, Magdalena and León-Cortés, Jorge L. and Lin, Dali and Ling, Yuet Fung and Lorini, Maria Lucia and Maes, Dirk and Martins, Dino and Merckx, Thomas and Mestdagh, Xavier and Monasterio, Yeray and Nakamura, Akihiro and Oh, Rachel Rui Ying and Pettersson, Lars B. and Pippen, Jeffrey S. and Pladevall, Clara and Pollet, Ingrid and Pottier, Patrice and Rafi, Muhammad Ather and Ramos, Danielle L. and Ranasinghe, Tharindu and Rautenbach, Fanie and Reith, Martin and Ringim, Abubakar S. and Riva, Federico and Roy, David and Ryrholm, Nils and Saastamoinen, Marjo and Settele, Josef and Sidemo-Holm, William and Skorka, Piotr and Stork, Nigel and Suwal, Sanej P. and Švitra, Giedrius and Swengel, Ann B. and Swengel, Scott R. and Titeux, Nicolas and Tropek, Robert and Tzortzakaki, Olga and van Swaay, Chris A.M. and Verovnik, Rudi and Wiedmann, Jerome L. and Wiemers, Martin and Yago, Masaya and Yazdandad, Hossein and Yehuda, Oz B. and Zografou, Konstantina and Bonn, Aletta and Pe'er, Guy and Lenoir, Jonathan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Preprint}},
  publisher    = {{EcoEvoRxiv}},
  title        = {{Extensive climate-induced range shifts in butterflies across the globe}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.32942/X2FH2K}},
  doi          = {{10.32942/X2FH2K}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}