Effective conservation of migratory species relies on habitat protection throughout their annual cycle. Although protected areas (PAs) play a central role in conservation, their effectiveness at conserving habitats across the annual cycle of migratory species has rarely been assessed. We developed seasonal ecological niche models for 418 migratory butterfly species across their global distribution to assess whether they were adequately represented in the PAs across their full annual cycle. PA coverage was inadequate in at least one season for 84% of migratory butterflies, adequate for only 17% of species in one season, and inadequate for 45% of species in all seasons. There was marked geographic variation in PA coverage: 77% of species met representation targets in Sri Lanka, for example, but only 32% met targets in Italy. Our results suggest that coordinated efforts across multiple countries will be needed to develop international networks of PAs that cover the full annual cycle of migratory insects and that conservation measures, in addition to the establishment and maintenance of PAs, are likely to be needed to effectively conserve these species.

Cobertura del área protegida del ciclo anual completo de las mariposas migratorias Resumen La conservación eficaz de las especies migratorias depende de la protección de los hábitats a lo largo de su ciclo anual. Aunque las áreas protegidas (AP) desempeñan un papel fundamental en la conservación, pocas veces se evalúa su eficacia para conservar los hábitats a lo largo del ciclo anual de las especies migratorias. Desarrollamos modelos de nicho ecológico estacional para 418 especies de mariposas migratorias a lo largo de su distribución global para evaluar si estaban adecuadamente representadas en las AP a lo largo de todo su ciclo anual. La cobertura de las áreas protegidas era inadecuada en al menos una estación para el 84% de las mariposas migratorias, adecuada para el 17% de las especies en una estación e inadecuada para el 45% de las especies en todas las estaciones. La cobertura de las zonas protegidas varía considerablemente según la zona geográfica: El 77% de las especies cumplieron los objetivos de representación en Sri Lanka, por ejemplo, pero sólo el 32% cumplieron los objetivos en Italia. Nuestros resultados sugieren que serán necesarios esfuerzos coordinados entre múltiples países para desarrollar redes internacionales de AP que cubran el ciclo anual completo de los insectos migratorios y que es probable que se necesiten medidas de conservación, además del establecimiento y mantenimiento de áreas protegidas, para la conservación eficaz de estas especies.

Centre for Ecology and Conservation University of Exeter Penryn UK

Department of Ecosystem Services Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig Germany

Department of Entomology College of Plant Protection Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing China

Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph Ontario Canada

Environment and Sustainability Institute University of Exeter Penryn UK

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Institute for Environmental Studies Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands

Institute of Biodiversity Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena Germany

Macroevolution and Macroecology Group Research School of Biology Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia

Research Computing Centre The University of Queensland St Lucia Queensland Australia

School of the Environment The University of Queensland St Lucia Queensland Australia

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