An assessment of the abundance, species richness and diversity of butterfly fauna in Sunbird hill forest and surrounding Farmland management systems.

Abstract

In March 2023, a study was conducted to assess the abundance, species richness and diversity of butterflies in Sunbird Hill Forest and the surrounding Farm Management Systems. The study area is located 47 km from Fort Portal city on the boundary of Kibale National Park. Butterflies were captured using two standard methods (sweep netting and banana fruit baiting). . Butterflies were sampled on 5 sites from Sunbird Hill Forest and 3 sites from the Farm Management Systems. A total of 159 species from 2279 individuals belonging to 5 families were recorded. Sunbird Hill Forest registered 136 species from 1756 individuals and the Farm Management Systems registered 55 species from 523 individuals. Family Nypmhalidae had the highest number of species irrespective of the study sites. Overall, the most abundant species was Bicyclus vulgaris (120) followed by Pardaleodes incerta (116), Acraea bonasia (94) and then Pardaleodes fan (85). Overall, Sunbird Hill had a higher abundance (1756), species richness (136) and diversity (4.29). The abundance of butterflies from the two study sites differed significantly. (Mann-Whitney U-test, p-value <0.05, U= 6795, n= 159). Both study sites had unique species. The level of similarity of butterfly species from the study sites was 32%. therefore, I would recommend continuous intensive inventories to be done to determine which species currently exist in Sunbird Hill Forest and the FMS to update the biodiversity inventory databases of private natural habitats.