Ecological performance determines phenological responses of butterflies in Northern Austria

Abstract

Climate change influences the composition of species and the phenology of insect. Species tend to appear earlier in spring and to be active later in autumn. However, species respond differently to climatic changes according to their ecological and behavioural performance. However, it has not yet been clarified which ecological characteristics determine which responses. In this study, we analysed potential phenological shifts of butterflies and burnet moths across Northern Austria over a period of four decades. To investigate this, we used extensive museum data and compared the time windows 1980 to 2000 and 2001 to 2022. We found species´ specific responses to climate change differing for spring and autumn. Species hibernating as imago or pupa as well as migratory habitat ubiquists showed particularly strong phenological responses. These species may become active immediately when weather conditions become suitable. The later occurrence of species during autumn is largely controlled by day length. Therefore, altering temperature regimes did not detectably influence autumn activity. Our study highlights that ecological specialists suffer most from climate change as these are least able to adapt to new thermal conditions and altered seasonality.

Keywords

• Climate change
• Butterflies
• Burnet moths
• Times series
• Alps
• Seasons