Butterfly diversity in relation to the CORINE land cover of the Culuccia Peninsula (Sardinia, Italy)

Abstract Several studies have highlighted the global decline of pollinator insects, with Lepidoptera being particularly affected in large parts of Europe in recent decades. Given the important biogeographic and conservation implications from faunal studies on the large Mediterranean islands, we focused on assessing butterfly diversity within the Culuccia Peninsula in north-eastern Sardinia (Italy). This area, characterized by an environmental mosaic largely untouched by human activities over the last century, is still unknown in terms of flora and fauna. For this reason, we compiled the first butterfly checklist of the Culuccia Peninsula and produced a detailed land cover map of the area to investigate the influence of the land use classes on Lepidoptera communities across seasons. The butterflies were sampled in five sessions from April to October 2022, along seven fixed transects selected to cover land use classes representative of natural and human-exploited areas for agriculture and grazing. Despite the small size of the study area, 23 of the 56 species present in Sardinia were recorded. The butterfly communities presented high dissimilarity across the different land use classes, which was driven primarily by species turnover. Significant differences in Lepidoptera diversity were observed between land cover classes with sparse vegetation and dense maquis, with higher species richness observed in the former. Shrub-dominated land use classes were associated with cooler butterfly communities compared to open environments, suggesting that they could serve as refugia in response to predicted climate change.