Integrating species traits and habitat characteristics into models of butterfly diversity in a fragmented ecosystem

We found that in this system, butterfly diversity patterns are most influenced by habitat metrics, such as area and habitat heterogeneity. Species traits and environment-trait interactions had only minor impacts on diversity patterns. We suggest that this may be a result of the spatial scale and/or ecological context of this study system. The models, however, exhibited good fit to the data and showed strong predictive performance during model validation tests, suggesting that the techniques applied may provide useful tools for better understanding the effects of habitat fragmentation on natural communities.