Data from: Local and landscape scale woodland cover and diversification of agroecological practices shape butterfly communities in tropical smallholder landscapes

The conversion of biodiversity-rich woodland to farmland and subsequent
management has strong, often negative, impacts on biodiversity. In
tropical smallholder agricultural landscapes, the impacts of agriculture
on insect communities, both through habitat change and subsequent farmland
management, is understudied. The use of agroecological practices has
social and agronomic benefits for smallholders. Although ecological
co-benefits of agroecological practices are assumed, systematic empirical
assessments of biodiversity effects of agroecological practices are
missing, particularly in Africa. In Malawi, we assessed butterfly
abundance, species richness, species assemblages and community
life-history traits on 24 paired woodland and smallholder-managed farmland
sites located across a gradient of woodland cover within a 1 km radius. We
tested whether habitat type (woodland vs. farmland) and woodland cover at
the landscape scale interactively shaped butterfly communities. Farms
varied in the implementation of agroecological pest and soil management
practices and flowering plant species richness. Farmland had lower
butterfly abundances and approximately half the species richness than
woodland. Farmland butterfly communities had, on average, a larger
wingspan than woodland site communities. Surprisingly, higher woodland
cover in the landscape had no effect on butterfly abundance in both
habitats. In contrast, species richness was higher with higher woodland
cover. Butterfly species assemblages were distinct between wood- and
farmland and shifted across the woodland cover gradient. Farmland
butterfly abundance, but not species richness, was higher with higher
flowering plant species richness on farms. Farms with a higher number of
agroecological pest management practices had a lower abundance of the
dominant butterfly species, but not of rarer species. However, a larger
number of agroecological soil management practices was associated with a
higher abundance of rarer species.  Synthesis and applications:
We show that diversified agroecological soil practices and flowering plant
richness enhanced butterfly abundance on farms. However, our results
suggest that on-farm measures cannot compensate for the negative effects
of continued woodland conversion. Therefore, we call for more active
protection of remaining African woodlands in tandem with promoting
agroecological soil management practices and on-farm flowering plant
richness to conserve butterflies whilst benefiting smallholders.

将生物多样性丰富的林地转化为农田及后续的经营管理活动，会对生物多样性（biodiversity）造成强烈且通常为负面的影响。
在热带小农农业景观中，农业活动通过生境改变与后续农田管理对昆虫群落（insect communities）造成的影响尚未得到充分研究。
农业生态实践（agroecological practices）可为小农带来社会与农艺效益。尽管人们默认此类实践具有生态协同效益，但针对其生物多样性效应的系统性实证评估仍较为匮乏，尤其是在非洲地区。
在马拉维，我们对分布于1公里半径范围内、涵盖林地覆盖度梯度的24对成对布设的林地与小农经营农田样地中的蝴蝶多度（butterfly abundance）、物种丰富度（species richness）、物种组合（species assemblages）及群落生活史特征（community life-history traits）进行了评估。
我们检验了生境类型（habitat type）与景观尺度（landscape scale）下的林地覆盖度是否会对蝴蝶群落产生交互塑造作用。
各样地的农业生态害虫与土壤管理措施实施情况以及开花植物物种丰富度（flowering plant species richness）存在差异。
农田样地的蝴蝶多度低于林地，物种丰富度约为林地的一半。
农田蝴蝶群落的平均翅展大于林地样地群落。
出乎意料的是，景观中更高的林地覆盖度对两种生境的蝴蝶多度均无影响。
与之相反，物种丰富度会随林地覆盖度的提升而升高。
林地与农田的蝴蝶物种组合存在显著差异，并随林地覆盖度梯度发生变化。
农田的蝴蝶多度（而非物种丰富度）会随农田上开花植物物种丰富度的提升而升高。
实施更多农业生态害虫管理措施的农田，其优势蝴蝶物种的多度更低，但未对稀有种（rare species）的多度造成影响。
然而，实施更多农业生态土壤管理措施的农田，其稀有种的多度更高。
综合与应用：我们的研究表明，多样化的农业生态土壤管理措施与开花植物物种丰富度的提升可增加农田中的蝴蝶多度。但我们的研究结果同时显示，农田内的管理措施无法抵消持续林地转化所带来的负面影响。因此，我们呼吁在推广农业生态土壤管理措施与提升农田开花植物物种丰富度的同时，加强对非洲剩余林地的主动保护，从而在保障小农收益的同时实现蝴蝶物种的保护。