Traits have also been used to understand the efficacy of species-distribution modeling approaches to forecast changes in species’ ranges 11 and to understand differential flight phenology responses 24.
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Species associations have been used to understand key drivers of diversification such as symbioses 22 and host plant use 23. For example, trait data have been used to examine causes for heterogeneous responses of butterflies to climate change 19, 20, 21. These studies also provide an organizational framework for understanding the responses of species to their environmental conditions in a community context. Typically, these studies generate a broad, taxa-wide understanding of how organisms develop, interact, respond, and assemble under varying environmental conditions. Trait-based and functional diversity research has become increasingly popular over the last several decades as more data about life histories, morphologies, and ecological interactions become available 18. Centuries of this collective focus has provided substantial literature describing the natural history, ecology and evolution of the butterfly fauna, including spatial and temporal distributions, key biotic and abiotic associations, and other key traits. Today, butterflies are often a first point of introduction for many into nature, increasingly through classroom activities and citizen science programs 17. In ancient Egypt, the butterfly was associated with the process of rebirth 15 and in Greece, the goddess of the soul, Psyche, is often symbolized by butterfly wings 16.
For instance, butterflies figure prominently in Hopi culture and pottery 14. Furthermore, in an increasingly changing world, butterflies have served as model organisms to study the effects of global change processes on ecological communities 10, 11, 12, and the cultural importance of butterflies is also noteworthy 13. Butterflies have served as a key model system for studies of evolution, mimicry, and the expression of color 2, 3, 4, visual ecology and learning 5, meta-population theory 6, biological associations, such as with hostplants, and networks 7, 8 and migration dynamics 9. Henry Walter Bates (1864) once wrote, “…the study of butterflies…will someday be valued as one of the most important branches of biological science” and that has indeed been the case 1.
Few invertebrates are studied as well as butterflies (Lepidoptera).
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