Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia

The Mlake military area in Vipava Valley has been recognized as possibly the most prominent ‘hot spot’ of butterfly diversity in Slovenia. An area of less than one square kilometre hosts 102 butterfly species or almost 57% of the total species confirmed for Slovenia. Among these, 23 species have be...

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Main Authors: Rudi Verovnik, Marko Kosmač, Peter Valič
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2011-12-01
Series:Natura Sloveniae
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/NaturaSloveniae/article/view/16834
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author Rudi Verovnik
Marko Kosmač
Peter Valič
author_facet Rudi Verovnik
Marko Kosmač
Peter Valič
author_sort Rudi Verovnik
collection DOAJ
description The Mlake military area in Vipava Valley has been recognized as possibly the most prominent ‘hot spot’ of butterfly diversity in Slovenia. An area of less than one square kilometre hosts 102 butterfly species or almost 57% of the total species confirmed for Slovenia. Among these, 23 species have been recognized as nationally or continentally threatened. Due to recent urbanization, the total area suitable for butterflies has been reduced to less than half, however, the effects on butterfly diversity of the area are not yet visible. The loss of several habitat specialist butterfly species and declines visible from transect monitoring in the last five years do, however, indicate the ongoing process of habitat degradation in Mlake military area. A focused management of the remaining habitats will be required to reverse this process.
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language English
publishDate 2011-12-01
publisher University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
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series Natura Sloveniae
spelling doaj-art-5e4baf254179431a9bbe2f50ce87b1b12025-01-29T20:49:49ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Natura Sloveniae1580-08141854-30812011-12-0113210.14720/ns.13.2.17-30Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in SloveniaRudi Verovnik0Marko Kosmač1Peter Valič2University of Ljubljana, Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, Večna pot 111, SI-1000 LjubljanaŽupančičeva 8a, SI-5270 AjdovščinaGoriška 23b, SI-5270 Ajdovščina The Mlake military area in Vipava Valley has been recognized as possibly the most prominent ‘hot spot’ of butterfly diversity in Slovenia. An area of less than one square kilometre hosts 102 butterfly species or almost 57% of the total species confirmed for Slovenia. Among these, 23 species have been recognized as nationally or continentally threatened. Due to recent urbanization, the total area suitable for butterflies has been reduced to less than half, however, the effects on butterfly diversity of the area are not yet visible. The loss of several habitat specialist butterfly species and declines visible from transect monitoring in the last five years do, however, indicate the ongoing process of habitat degradation in Mlake military area. A focused management of the remaining habitats will be required to reverse this process. https://journals.uni-lj.si/NaturaSloveniae/article/view/16834biodiversitymilitary areathreatened speciesnature conservationLepidoptera
spellingShingle Rudi Verovnik
Marko Kosmač
Peter Valič
Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia
Natura Sloveniae
biodiversity
military area
threatened species
nature conservation
Lepidoptera
title Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia
title_full Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia
title_fullStr Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia
title_full_unstemmed Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia
title_short Mlake – a hotspot of butterfly diversity in Slovenia
title_sort mlake a hotspot of butterfly diversity in slovenia
topic biodiversity
military area
threatened species
nature conservation
Lepidoptera
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/NaturaSloveniae/article/view/16834
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