The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient
The rapid and selective responses to changes in habitat structure and climate have made butterflies valuable environmental indicators. In this study, we asked whether the decline in butterfly populations near the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk in northwestern Russia is accompanied by phenotypi...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-8994/13/4/626/ 2023-08-20T04:07:47+02:00 The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient Vitali Zverev Mikhail V. Kozlov 2021-04-09 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Biology and Symmetry/Asymmetry https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Symmetry; Volume 13; Issue 4; Pages: 626 copper-nickel smelter fluctuating asymmetry Kola Peninsula Lepidoptera phenotypic stress responses wing length Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626 2023-08-01T01:27:48Z The rapid and selective responses to changes in habitat structure and climate have made butterflies valuable environmental indicators. In this study, we asked whether the decline in butterfly populations near the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk in northwestern Russia is accompanied by phenotypic stress responses to toxic pollutants, expressed as a decrease in body size and an increase in fluctuating asymmetry. We measured the concentrations of nickel and copper, forewing length, and fluctuating asymmetry in two elements of wing patterns in Boloria euphrosyne, Plebejus idas, and Agriades optilete collected 1–65 km from Monchegorsk. Body metal concentrations increased toward the smelter, confirming the local origin of the collected butterflies. The wings of butterflies from the most polluted sites were 5–8% shorter than those in unpolluted localities, suggesting adverse effects of pollution on butterfly fitness due to larval feeding on contaminated plants. However, fluctuating asymmetry averaged across two hindwing spots did not change systematically with pollution, thereby questioning the use of fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of habitat quality in butterfly conservation projects. Text kola peninsula MDPI Open Access Publishing Kola Peninsula Monchegorsk ENVELOPE(32.874,32.874,67.940,67.940) Symmetry 13 4 626 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
copper-nickel smelter fluctuating asymmetry Kola Peninsula Lepidoptera phenotypic stress responses wing length |
spellingShingle |
copper-nickel smelter fluctuating asymmetry Kola Peninsula Lepidoptera phenotypic stress responses wing length Vitali Zverev Mikhail V. Kozlov The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient |
topic_facet |
copper-nickel smelter fluctuating asymmetry Kola Peninsula Lepidoptera phenotypic stress responses wing length |
description |
The rapid and selective responses to changes in habitat structure and climate have made butterflies valuable environmental indicators. In this study, we asked whether the decline in butterfly populations near the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk in northwestern Russia is accompanied by phenotypic stress responses to toxic pollutants, expressed as a decrease in body size and an increase in fluctuating asymmetry. We measured the concentrations of nickel and copper, forewing length, and fluctuating asymmetry in two elements of wing patterns in Boloria euphrosyne, Plebejus idas, and Agriades optilete collected 1–65 km from Monchegorsk. Body metal concentrations increased toward the smelter, confirming the local origin of the collected butterflies. The wings of butterflies from the most polluted sites were 5–8% shorter than those in unpolluted localities, suggesting adverse effects of pollution on butterfly fitness due to larval feeding on contaminated plants. However, fluctuating asymmetry averaged across two hindwing spots did not change systematically with pollution, thereby questioning the use of fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of habitat quality in butterfly conservation projects. |
format |
Text |
author |
Vitali Zverev Mikhail V. Kozlov |
author_facet |
Vitali Zverev Mikhail V. Kozlov |
author_sort |
Vitali Zverev |
title |
The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient |
title_short |
The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient |
title_full |
The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient |
title_fullStr |
The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient |
title_sort |
fluctuating asymmetry of the butterfly wing pattern does not change along an industrial pollution gradient |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(32.874,32.874,67.940,67.940) |
geographic |
Kola Peninsula Monchegorsk |
geographic_facet |
Kola Peninsula Monchegorsk |
genre |
kola peninsula |
genre_facet |
kola peninsula |
op_source |
Symmetry; Volume 13; Issue 4; Pages: 626 |
op_relation |
Biology and Symmetry/Asymmetry https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626 |
container_title |
Symmetry |
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13 |
container_issue |
4 |
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626 |
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1774719680676626432 |