Data from: Nectar resource limitation affects butterfly flight performance and metabolism differently in intensive and extensive agricultural landscapes

Flight is an essential biological ability of many insects, but is energetically costly. Environments under rapid human-induced change are characterized by habitat fragmentation and may impose constraints on the energy income budget of organisms. This may, in turn, affect locomotor performance and willingness to fly. We tested flight performance and metabolic rates in Meadow brown butterflies (Maniola jurtina) of two contrasted agricultural landscapes: intensively managed, nectar-poor (IL) versus extensively managed, nectar-rich landscapes (EL). Young female adults were submitted to four nectar treatments (i.e. nectar quality and quantity) in outdoor flight cages. IL-individuals had better flight capacities in a flight mill and had lower resting metabolic rates (RMR) than EL-individuals, except under the severest treatment. Under this treatment, RMR increased in IL-individuals, but decreased in EL-individuals; flight performance was maintained by IL-individuals, but dropped by a factor 2.5 in EL-individuals. IL-individuals had more canalized (i.e. less plastic) responses relative to the nectar treatments than EL-individuals. Our results show significant intraspecific variation in the locomotor and metabolic response of a butterfly to different energy income regimes relative to the landscape of origin. Ecophysiological studies help improving our mechanistic understanding of the eco-evolutionary impact of anthropogenic environments on rare and widespread species.

飞行是多数昆虫不可或缺的生物学能力，但同时伴随极高的能量消耗。受人类活动快速干扰的环境以生境破碎化为典型特征，这可能会对生物体的能量收支造成约束，进而影响其运动表现与飞行意愿。
我们以两种差异显著的农业生境中的草地棕眼蝶（*Maniola jurtina*）为研究对象：集约化管理且蜜源匮乏的生境（IL）与粗放化管理且蜜源丰富的生境（EL），并测定了它们的飞行表现与代谢速率。将羽化不久的雌性成虫置于室外飞行笼中，开展四种不同蜜源条件（即蜜源质量与数量梯度）的处理实验。
在飞行磨测试中，IL组个体的飞行能力优于EL组个体，且其静息代谢率（resting metabolic rates）低于EL组个体，但在最严苛的处理条件下除外。在该严苛处理条件下，IL组个体的静息代谢率有所上升，而EL组个体的静息代谢率则出现下降；IL组个体的飞行性能得以维持，EL组个体的飞行性能则下降至原有水平的2/5。相较于EL组个体，IL组个体对蜜源处理的响应更具稳态性（即可塑性更低）。
本研究结果表明，蝴蝶的运动与代谢响应会因种群起源生境的不同，在种内层面呈现出显著变异，且响应模式随能量收入状况发生变化。生态生理学研究有助于深化我们对人类活动改造的环境对稀有物种与广布物种的生态-进化影响的机制性理解。