DOI: 10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxzc
title: Data from: Butterflies respond to habitat disturbance in tropical forests through activity shifts

description: Habitat disturbance can alter the dynamics of the forest microclimate by
 disrupting the canopy structure, particularly in structurally complex
 tropical forests. These changes may impact ectotherms, whose performance
 and fitness are highly sensitive to climatic conditions. Behavioural
 responses, such as changes in activities, may help buffer forest
 ectotherms like butterflies from microclimate changes in disturbed
 tropical forests. Using field surveys from four tropical forest sites in
 Asia, we compared flight activity peaks, durations, and intensity for
 populations of 21 forest-associated butterfly species between open-canopy
 and closed-canopy forests. We then compared the temperature and
 illumination that each species experienced during its activity period
 between the two forest types.  Although butterfly populations
 began their activity earlier and reached peak levels sooner in open-canopy
 forests compared to closed-canopy forests, the duration and intensity of
 activity remained similar across populations. Despite these shifts in
 activity timing between forest types, butterflies experienced comparable
 temperature conditions in both forest types but were exposed to higher
 illumination levels in open-canopy forests. Overall, we demonstrate that
 tropical butterflies can compensate for microclimate changes in tropical
 forests by shifting their activity patterns. This may help butterflies
 buffer against temperature increases but not against higher illumination
 levels following forest canopy opening due to habitat disturbance. Our
 results emphasize the importance of understanding how animal activity
 responds to habitat disturbance. 
description: # Butterflies respond to habitat disturbance in tropical forests through
 activity shifts Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxzc](10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxzc) ## Description of the
 data and file structure We surveyed butterflies in each location when
 adult butterflies were most abundant. We conducted surveys on sunny and
 windless days. In each study site, two experienced observers recorded
 butterfly species and abundance using adjusted Pollard walks (30 min at a
 constant pace, recording butterflies encountered within 5 m of established
 transects; Basset et al., 2013) at each transect every hour from morning
 (about half to one hour after sunrise) to dusk (about half to one hour
 before sunset). At each site, butterfly observers were the same and were
 randomly switched between forest types or surveys to minimize bias caused
 by different observers. We recorded the presence of active (displayed
 flying, feeding, mud puddling, territorial behaviour, mating and
 ovipositing) butterfly individuals during the sampling. To measure the
 microclimate difference between forest types, we placed 1-2 data loggers
 (Onset HOBO UA-002-64) in each habitat suspended 1m above ground under
 vegetation (for avoiding direct solar radiation). These data loggers
 recorded air temperature (°C) and illumination (Lux) at every 5-minute
 interval in TPK and KHC, at 1-minute intervals in XTBG and MBCA. We
 aggregated (averaged across) 1-minute interval recordings to 5-minute
 intervals to make recordings in different sites comparable and used these
 5-minute interval recordings in the subsequent analyses. ## Files and
 variables The dataset included two csv files designated for the two
 analysis used in the manuscript. The **microclimate dataset** contains
 30min-interval (transformed to numerical numbers 0 to 23.5) illumination
 (in Lux) and temperature (in celsius) readings collected from our four
 sampling sites in two forest types (open and closed). In the same forest
 type and sites, the microclimate readings contains multiple days. The
 **glmmfinal dataset** contains activity start, end, duration, and
 intensity (calculated from activity curves estimated by kernel estimation)
 for each population in each forest type in four sites (TPK – Tai Po Kau
 Nature Reserve, Hong Kong;KHC – Khao Chong Botanical Garden, Thailand;
 XTBG – Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Yunnan, China; MBCA –
 Maliau Basin Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo). Variable
 "intensity_10_2" indicate activity intensity from 10 am to 2 pm.
 "stad_accu_temp" indicate standardized accumulated temperature
 profiles in closed forest, calculated by dividing the cummulative
 temperature during activity by activity duration. Similar calculations
 apply to the variable "stad_accu_light", and
 "stad_o_accu_temp" (in open forest). "habi" is short
 for habitat of open and closed canopy forests. "paired" labelled
 same letters to a same species in one site. This variable is used for a
 random factor in glmm, to make sure the comparison is within species.
 "Scenario" is for hypothetical changes in butterfly activity.
 When the value is "real_", it means the data in different
 "stad_accu_" variables are from observed dataset. When the value
 is "fixed_", it means the different "stad_accu_"
 metrics in open canopy forests are caclulated within the time periods of
 activity calculated from the closed canopy species population (assumming
 butterflies do not shift activity pattern). ## Code/software Microsoft
 excel can be used to view the data file.