“Co-evolved with host plants, butterflies form an integral part of an ecologically functioning web of life,” he added. “Unfortunately, our first global assessment of butterfly diversity and threats finds that butterflies’ fascinating diversification into higher-elevation environments might now spell their demise, with potentially thousands of species committed to extinction from global warming this century.”

Pinkert, a former postdoctoral researcher at the BGC Center, added: “As an entomologist, I am committed to informing the public about the distribution of insect diversity and targeted ways to protect it. Our results are insightful from an ecological point of view but unfortunately also very alarming.”

Current priorities in biodiversity preservation, the researchers note, are geared to animals and plants, rather than insects. Until now, a global assessment of the geographic coincidence of diversity, rarity, and climate change threats for an insect system did not exist.

The new assessment reveals that patterns in butterfly diversity differ strongly from those of much better studied groups such as birds, mammals, and amphibians — challenging the relevance of existing conservation priorities, the researchers said.

“This research was made possible by many years of mobilizing various global data and newly developed integrative approaches, all aimed at filling this critical information gap for at least one insect taxon,” Pinkert said.

Jetz said he hoped the new study — and future research enabled by the Map of Life, a global database, directed by Jetz, that tracks the distribution of known species worldwide — will support conservation managers to include insects in their plans for biodiversity preservation.

“A reduction of carbon emissions, combined with proactive identification and preservation of key butterfly habitats and migratory corridors, will be key to ensuring that much of butterfly diversity survives to benefit future generations,” Jetz said.

Co-authors of the study are Nina Farwig of the University of Marburg and Akito Kawahara of the University of Florida.

The research was supported, in part, by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.

To explore more of the results of the research at the Map of Life site, visit here.