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，但同时伴随高昂的能量消耗。受人类活动快速改变的环境以生境破碎化为典型特征，可能对生物体的能量收入预算施加限制，进而影响其运动能力与飞行意愿。我们针对两种差异显著的农业景观中的Meadow棕眼蝶（Maniola jurtina）测试了其飞行能力与代谢速率：分别为集约经营、花蜜匮乏的景观（IL），以及粗放经营、花蜜充裕的景观（EL）。在室外飞行笼中，我们对年轻雌性成虫设置了四种花蜜处理（即花蜜质量与数量梯度）。相较于EL组个体，IL组个体在飞行磨测试中展现出更优的飞行能力，且静息代谢率（resting metabolic rate, RMR）更低——仅在最严苛的处理组中例外。在该处理下，IL组个体的RMR有所升高，而EL组个体的RMR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1/2.5。相较于EL组个体，IL组个体对花蜜处理的响应更具稳态性（即可塑性更低）。我们的研究结果表明，蝴蝶的运动与代谢响应会因起源景观的差异，在不同能量收入条件下出现显著的种内变异。生态生理学研究有助于深化我们对人为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。