Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on butterfly assemblages within undisturbed landscape matrix

Abstract The global decline of insects in general and pollinators in particular poses a significant threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Butterflies serve as sensitive indicators of environmental changes due to their specific habitat requirements and rapid responses to ecosystem alterations. Available studies are mostly devoted to analysing the effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the abundance and diversity of butterflies within disturbed landscape matrices. In this study we investigated how disturbances influenced butterfly populations within an undisturbed landscape matrix usually overlooked in the literature. Eighteen sites were monitored biweekly from May to September over 3 years (2022–2024) using standardized visual counts along 500‐m long transects. Grazing intensity and the surface of human‐disturbed lands were used as a measure of disturbance at local and landscape scales. A total of 16,017 individuals and 78 species were recorded. No significant differences in species richness or abundance were observed across the land use types, but analyses showed distinct species compositions between cultivated sites and grasslands. Butterfly community compositions were mainly influenced by structural habitat characteristics rather than land use. Low grazing intensity and the presence of forests in the surroundings positively influenced the abundance and species richness of butterflies. Within an undisturbed landscape matrix, cultivations play a different ecological role than in disturbed landscape matrix increasing landscape heterogeneity and butterfly diversity and hosting ecotonal communities. Anyway, disturbed land use types inhabit impoverished butterfly communities compared to semi‐natural ones in which the presence of protected species further emphasizes their critical role for conservation.