Habitat heterogeneity affects species distribution, and a better understanding of this relationship can inform biodiversity conservation. To understand how habitat heterogeneity affects multiple dimensions of biodiversity, we sampled fruit-feeding butterflies within savannah woodlands and gallery forests from July 2012 to June 2013 in the Cerrado. A total of 3459 individuals representing 56 species were collected, with 32 found in savannah and 51 in gallery forest. In addition to taxonomic diversity, gallery forests host higher functional (Gower = 0.72) and phylogenetic diversity (Faith's PD = 641.5) compared to savannahs (Gower = 0.61; Faith = 416.1, respectively). Within gallery forests, butterfly assemblages exhibited higher functional diversity in the understory (Gower = 0.8) than in the canopy (Gower = 0.6). Similarly, phylogenetic diversity was higher in understory (PD = 573.9) compared to canopy (PD = 391.9) within the savannah. Species with smaller bodies (CWMsize = 27.8), broader diet breadth (CWMdiet = 2642), and defense-related traits (CWMeyespots = 65% of the assemblage), tended to be found in gallery forests compared to savannah woodland (CWMsize = 29.4; CWMdiet = 1527; CWMeyespots = 35% of the assemblage), respectively. Gallery forests are marked by more stable and less severe microclimate, reinforcing their pivotal role as a climatic refuge for most species, with a particular emphasis on smaller, desiccation-prone species. Furthermore, habitat heterogeneity may provide new ecological niches, which contribute to the high butterfly diversity in the Cerrado biome. Gallery forests offer favorable conditions for a higher proportion of butterfly assemblages, whereas savannah woodlands host distinct functional groups, including larger-bodied, camouflaged, and dietary specialist species. In light of this, we strongly advocate for the preservation of the gallery forest-savannah ecotone, in order to promote the coexistence of diverse butterfly lineages and functional groups.

Body-size covaries with many species’ traits, with implications for population and ecosystem-level patterns. Body size and seasonality of a species may covary if, for certain body sizes and optimal resource availability, meet the larger energy requirements of large-bodied species, are restricted to a narrow temporal window. Here, we examine the relationship between body size and seasonality of fruit-feeding butterflies in the Cerrado, as well as its association with larval diet breadth and synchrony with fruit phenology. Relative to smaller-bodied clades, the adults within larger clades were less abundant, more generalized in their larval diet-breadth, more seasonal, and synchronized with fruit phenology. Body-size covaries with species traits that are sensitive to anthropogenic drivers. In the Cerrado realm, Brazil, larger-bodied butterflies tend to be more temporally specialized and more synchronized with food plants—therefore, more vulnerable to climate-driven changes in phenology (i.e., fruiting season). To account for climate driven changes in synchrony with resources in the Cerrado, conservation should continue to focus on preserving habitat, especially corridors between savannah and gallery forests, so that resources are diverse and sufficiently abundant to sustain populations. Results from our study suggest that to conserve larger-bodied nymphalids, habitat restoration projects should prioritize seed sources that will maximize interaction diversity. This may not only be achieved by planting a diversity of native host plants but also cultivars that offset seasonal changes in the timing of flushing or fruiting.

Habitat heterogeneity affect species distribution, and a better understanding of this relationship can inform biodiversity conservation. To understand how habitat heterogeneity affects multiple dimensions of biodiversity, we sampled fruit-feeding butterflies within savannah woodlands and gallery forests in the Cerrado. Understory traps within gallery forests had greater functional diversity than canopy traps, and understory traps within savannah woodlands had greater phylogenetic diversity than canopy traps. Species with smaller bodies, broader diet breadth, and defense-related traits, tended to inhabit gallery forests. Our results reinforce the positive association between habitat heterogeneity and multiple dimensions of biodiversity. These results shed light on the mechanisms contributing to the maintenance of biodiversity in seasonal tropical savannahs, which might help to understand the impacts of intense anthropogenic pressures and climate change on the Cerrado biota.

Abstract Introduction: Diet and temporal specialists, especially those in tropical seasonal environments, require synchronous phenology with hosts. Species with life-history-traits that covary with temporal specialization may be particularly vulnerable to climate-driven changes in phenology. In the Cerrado, larger fruit-feeding butterflies species tend to be less abundant and more seasonal than their smaller-bodied relatives. It is important to consider how ecological process and phylogenetic history are associated with these attributes. Aim/Methods: Here we evaluated the effects of climate and body size on the seasonality of abundance of fruit-feeding butterflies as well as their association with natural history traits including diet breadth and synchrony with fruits.Results: The distribution of abundances of these butterflies species was not uniform throughout the year, was associated with body size and shaped by habitat type and climate. Overall, hot and wet months were associated with higher abundance and species richness of these nymphalids in the Cerrado. Lineages of large-bodied species were less abundant, more seasonal and more generalized in larval diet breadth. In addition, these large-bodied clades were more tightly synchronized with fruit phenology.Discussion: Our findings support the hypothesis that large and less abundant species to occur in a narrow temporal window and synchronized with fruit phenology. Implications for insect conservation: Particular attention should be given for the conservation of larger-bodied temporal specialist species as they are vulnerable to phenology mismatching as a result of rapid global warming, but they will also face additional pressures with the advancing deforestation in the Cerrado.

The Cerrado biome is a biodiversity hotspot with a rich biota, and intense anthropogenic pressures. Despite its importance, it is still poorly understood how insects occupy different spatial dimensions of the landscape. We investigated how the beta diversity of plants influences the beta diversity of nymphalids at the regional‐scale (gallery forest vs. savannah) and local‐scale (transects). We expected greater beta‐diversity in nymphalid assemblages in gallery forests given the heterogeneity of plants and canopy structure. We sampled nymphalids in each habitat monthly for 1 year and observed 3459 individuals from 62 species. Nymphalidae abundance was significantly higher in the understory than in the canopy. Specifically, only 18% of the individuals were captured in the canopy of gallery forests compared to 11% in savannah canopies. Species richness was higher in gallery forests (55 species) compared to savannahs (34 species). Savannah transects were very similar in plant species composition and butterfly assemblages within the understory and canopy, whereas the species composition of plants and butterflies in gallery forests was highly heterogeneous which is consistent with the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis. Gallery forests are spatially more complex, which probably results in higher niche availability that may contribute to reduce the community saturation and help to maintain greater beta diversity in these habitats.

Introduction: In animals, body size is correlated with many aspects of natural history, such as life span, abundance, dispersal capacity and diet breadth. However, contrasting trends have been reported for the relationship between body size and these ecological traits. Methods: Fruit-feeding butterflies were used to investigate whether body size is correlated with species abundance, dispersal, permanence, and larval diet breadth in a Neotropical savanna in Brazil (Cerrado). We used Blomberg’s K and Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares models (PGLS) to measure phylogenetic signal strength in species traits and to estimate size–dispersal–diet breadth associations, while also taking shared ancestry into account. Results: 539 individuals from 27 species were captured, and 190 individuals were recaptured, representing a 35% recapture rate. We found body size to be negatively associated with butterfly abundance, and positively associated with dispersal level, distance traveled, number of traps visited, individual permanence, and diet breadth. These results indicate that larger butterflies are more likely to disperse over longer distances. Moreover, larger butterflies have more generalized larval diets, based on the number of host plant families, genera, and phylogenetic diversity of the host plants they consume as larvae. Smaller butterflies rely on fewer resources, which is reflected in their higher survival in small patches and may explain their lower dispersal ability and higher diet specialization. Nevertheless, lower dispersal ability may, if not compensated by large population sizes, threaten small-bodied species inhabiting environments, such as the Cerrado, which have intense deforestation rates. Conclusions: Body size is positively associated with dispersal and diet breadth for the fruit-feeding butterflies collected in this study.