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Climate change is prompting a habitat change in Himalayas
Why in news?
- Publication titled ‘Assemblages Of Lepidoptera in selected protected areas across Indian Himalaya through long-term ecological monitoring’ was released during 6th Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium organised in Kolkata. It is published by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
More in news
- As per scientists, climate change is promoting the moths and butterflies to shift habitats to higher altitudes across the Indian Himalayas.
- Species of moths and butterflies (together called ‘Lepidoptera’) across 6 Himalayan region, from the cold deserts of Ladakh to tropical evergreen forest of Arunachal Pradesh, were studied.
- Lepidoptera are known a potent ecological indicators. Their distribution depends on and shifts with changes in vegetation.
- In the study it was found that species at lower altitude had moved up and reverse trend was found to be rare.
- For example:
(1) Butterfly named Himalayan tailless bushblue ( arhopala ganesa ganesa were known to occur at an altitude between 13,00m to 2,400 m in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand but in the study they were found at 3,577m in Askot wildlife sanctuary, at least 1200m higher than its known range.
(2) Upward shift was also found for blue baron butterfly, protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. It shifted from altitude of 1,500m in central himalayas, north east India and the western ghats to 2100m at Neora Valley National park in West Bengal .
(3) Moth named Trachea auriplena was recorded at 3100m n Valley of flowers which was usually found at 300m altitude in Sri Lanka.
- The shifting habitat has drawn attention to climate change and the need to conserve species and their habitats.
Sources
The Hindu