Year: 2025
Type: data-paper
Abstract: Insect biogeography is poorly documented globally, particularly in the tropics. Recent intensive research in tropical Asia, combined with increasingly available records from citizen science, provides an opportunity to map the distributions of tropical Asian butterflies. We compiled a dataset of 730,190 occurrences of 3,752 tropical Asian butterfly species by aggregating records from GBIF (651,285 records), published literature (27,217), published databases (37,695), and unpublished data (13,993). Here, we present this dataset and single-species distribution maps of 1,576 species. Using these maps, along with records of the 2,176 remaining species, we identified areas of limited sampling (e.g., Myanmar and New Guinea) and predicted areas of high diversity (Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo). This dataset can be leveraged for a range of studies on Asian and tropical butterflies, including 1) species biogeography, 2) sampling prioritization to fill gaps, 3) biodiversity hotspot mapping, and 4) conservation evaluation and planning. We encourage the continued development of this dataset and the associated code as a tool for the conservation of tropical Asian insects.
Source: Scientific Data
Authors: Eugene Yu Hin Yau, Emily E. Jones, Toby Pak Nok Tsang, Shuang Xing, Richard T. Corlett, Patrick Roehrdanz, David J. Lohman, Adam Kai Chi Lee, Catherine Wai Ching Hai, Shawan Chowdhury, Jane K. Hill, Jade A. T. Badon, Cheong Weei Gan, Yves Basset, I-Ching Chen, Suzan Benedick, Anuj Jain, Tiffany L. T. Ki, Krushnamegh Kunte, Akihiro Nakamura, Lien Van Vu, Sarah A. Scriven, Alice C. Hughes, Timothy C. Bonebrake
Institutions: University of Hong Kong, University of Toronto Scarborough, Sun Yat-sen University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Conservation International, City College of New York, City University of New York, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Monash University, University of York, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, National Cheng Kung University, Universiti of Malaysia Sabah, Natural History Museum, University of Cambridge, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, The University of Melbourne
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
OpenAlex ID: W4411277392