Butterfly similarity index
This shows the similarity between the Eastern and Northern zone at
39.81% and similarity between Eastern, Western and Northern Zone at
27.74 %. From the dendrogram all the Zones are dissimilar since their
percentages fall below 50% with Western and Northern Zones being more
dissimilar.
The highest relative abundance (N = 329) and species richness (55
species, 5 families) of butterflies in the (EZ) may be attributed to the
presence of large undisturbed secondary forest which serves as a refuge
for butterfly species. This was in consonance with work done by Tudoret al. (2004) which suggest that vegetation structure is
important for butterfly assemblage as a site for mating and
thermoregulation. This correlated positively with the highest abundance
of tree species (175) and tree diversity (2.17292) in the EZ. This
conforms to work done by Wala et al. (2012) which suggests that
diverse nature of plant species in forest ecosystem attract butterflies
for foraging and reproductive purposes, which could result in higher
species richness and abundance.
Low species richness (S = 22) and the lowest relative abundance (N= 41)
of butterflies in WZ could be attributed to the movement of dust
particles towards the zone after every blast of the quarry. This is in
agreement with work done by Mabogunje (2008) who suggested that,
quarrying carries the potential of destroying habitats and the species
they support. Dust and vibrations from heavy vehicles that transport
quarry products in the NZ could possibly have caused the decline in
butterfly relative abundance (N= 47) and species richness (S = 21). This
support work done by Nisic (2018), who indicated that quarry operations
negatively affects the environment in a variety of ways during
exploration, blasting, transportation and disposal of waste rocks.