The identification of an initial selection of potential prime butterfly areas for Malta : a landscape approach

Abstract

Centrally located within the Mediterranean, the Maltese Islands form part of an ecological linkage that bridges the African and European continents. The impoverished butterfly fauna that characterizes these islands is the product of both natural and anthropogenic root causes. The small islands state's unrelenting development phase in the last decades and global warming may possibly be exacerbating pressures, further altering butterfly microhabitat conditions and consequently species behaviour and distribution. The singular findings of Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) and Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) - butterflies that are probably risking extinction at a local level, in this study, corroborate this state of affairs. This evolving scenario is thus an unambiguous admonition that safeguarding local butterfly fauna has become an urgent conservation priority. In this context, this study outlines a novel methodology for determining core butterfly habitats, within this central Mediterranean archipelago's landscapes, based upon the evaluation of site physical and ecological criteria with a view to identifying and suitably managing local Prime Butterfly Areas (PBAs). For this scope, the study considered the following attributes: the mean butterfly species count per visit and assemblage structure; characterising vegetation assemblages; topographical elements - aspect, slope and height and, land cover and associated pressures, within ten candidate study sites. The research suggests that butterfly activity and numbers depend upon consumable and non-consumable resources within their habitat range and proposes four local study sites: Qormi (Wied Qirda); /mgieban/Tal-Mignuna Area; Banrija and Lapsi for PBA designation. A set of recommendations is additionally, being set forth with a vision to make the eventual establishment and the operational aspect of a local PBA network in the Maltese archipelago, successful.