Nitrogen deposition and the reduction of butterfly biodiversity quality in the Netherlands

Butterfly decline in Northern Europe is a cause of concern and it has been hypothesised that this is due to nitrogen deposition inducing excess early growth of plants. It has also been changing the quality of the food available to larvae. We tested these hypotheses by linking butterfly biodiversity quality indices (species richness, population, biomass, conservation value, evenness (Simpson's Index) and modelled species richness (Chao 1 and 2)) with nitrogen Critical Load Exceedence (nCLE) data. An index of butterfly sensitivity to nitrogen was also created (Species Nitrogen Value Index (SNVI)... Mehr ...