A 12-Year Experimental Design to Test the Recovery of Butterfly Biodiversity in an Urban Ecosystem: Lessons from the Parc Ur-bain des Papillons
date : 12.10.2023
In a world where city dwellers are disconnected from nature, scientists are sounding the alarm regarding the decline in pollinators both in the countryside and in cities. Among these pollinating insects, butterflies are a particular focus of study, as their populations are declining sharply as a result of urbanization and the artificialization of vegetation. An ecological engineering project based on a plantation of host and nectariferous plants and backed up by a well thought out management approach was carried out in Marseille at the Parc Urbain des Papillons (the Butterflies Urban Park). We succeeded in almost doubling the number of butterfly species over the 12 years of the project. Mediterranean species that were rare at the beginning of the monitoring survey colonized the site. However, the monitoring of a nearby natural wasteland shows that some species are still absent. The plant palette used proved its effectiveness, and it would be worth duplicating this system in other urban contexts to encourage butterflies to remain in the city.
