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OPEN ACCESS The Journal of Threatened Taxa fs dedfcated to bufldfng evfdence for conservafon globally by publfshfng peer-revfewed arfcles onlfne every month at a reasonably rapfd rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org . All arfcles publfshed fn JoTT are regfstered under Creafve Commons Atrfbufon 4.0 Internafonal Lfcense unless otherwfse menfoned. JoTT allows unrestrfcted use of arfcles fn any medfum, reproducfon, and dfstrfbufon by provfdfng adequate credft to the authors and the source of publfcafon. Journal of Threatened Taxa Bufldfng evfdence for conservafon globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Onlfne) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Prfnt) Short Communfcatfon Butterflfes of the Kole Wetlands, a Ramsar Sfte fn Kerala, Indfa S. Sarath, E.R. Sreekumar & P.O. Nameer 26 May 2017 | Vol. 9| No. 5 | Pp. 10208–10215 10.11609/jot. 3513 .9. 5.10208-10215 For Focus, Scope, Afms, Polfcfes and Gufdelfnes vfsft htp://threatenedtaxa.org/About_JoTT For Arfcle Submfssfon Gufdelfnes vfsft htp://threatenedtaxa.org/Submfssfon_Gufdelfnes For Polfcfes agafnst Scfenffc Mfsconduct vfsft htp://threatenedtaxa.org/JoTT_Polfcy_agafnst_Scfenffc_Mfsconduct For reprfnts contact <[email protected]> Publfsher/Host Partner Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2017 | 9(5): 10208–10215 Butterflies of the Kole Wetlands, a Ramsar Site in Kerala, India ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) 1 2 3 Short Communication Short S. Sarath , E.R. Sreekumar & P.O. Nameer ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 1,2,3 Centre for Wildlife Studies, College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University, KAU Main Campus, Thrissur, OPEN ACCESS Kerala 680656, India 1 [email protected], 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected] (corresponding author) Abstract: A study was conducted to understand the diversity and Study Area abundance of butterflies of Kole Wetlands. Fifty-eight species in Kole Wetlands is a Ramsar site since 2002 (Islam & five families were identified. The relative abundance and seasonal variation in the abundance across the year have been discussed. The Rahmani 2008), an important bird area since 2004 (Islam endemism as well as the butterflies listed in the schedules of the & Rahmani 2004), and a high value biodiversity area Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 have also been discussed. since 2009 (MoEF 2009). The Kole Wetlands, covering Keywords: Abundance, diversity, endemism, Thrissur District. an area of 13,632ha, are spread over the Thrissur and Malappuram districts in Kerala, southern India. Extending from the northern bank of Chalakudy River in India has approximately 1,800 species and subspecies the south to the southern bank of Bharathapuzha River of butterflies and in these 15–20 % are endemic to the in the north (Johnkutty & Venugopal 1993), this area lies Indian region (Kunte et al. 2016) and 316 species have between 10020’–10040’N & 75058’–76011’E (Fig. 1). been reported from Kerala (Palot et al. 2012). Very little documentation has been done on butterfly fauna Physical features of the wetlands of Kerala. The only available work on Physiographyically, the area is quite unique. The the butterflies from a wetland in Kerala was by Soniya entire tract is a product of fluvial estuarine agencies & Palot (2002), who reported 43 species of butterflies modified by human activities. The area is devoid of from a paddy field in Palakkad District, Kerala. In the any significant relief features and consists of extensive present study, an attempt has been made to document flat land surface interspersed with uplands. The area the butterfly diversity and the relative abundance of is saucer-shaped with lowlands at the centre with the butterfly species across the months, in the Kole elevation gradually increasing towards the fringes. The Wetlands of Kerala. land around the rice fields have steep slopes which are terraced and put under perennials like areca nut and coconut and annuals like banana, yams, etc. The slopes DOI: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3513.9.5.10208-10215 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9EBF7733-C6B7-43B5-ADC7-8D3DFD82E021 Editor: George Mathew, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, India. Date of publication: 26 May 2017 (online & print) Manuscript details: Ms # 3513 | Received 05 February 2017 | Final received 30 April 2017 | Finally accepted 13 May 2017 Citation: Sarath, S., E.R. Sreekumar & P.O. Nameer (2017). Butterflies of the Kole Wetlands, a Ramsar Site in Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10208–10215; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3513.9.5.10208-10215 Copyright: © Sarath et al. 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication. Funding: Kerala Agricultural University. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Acknowledgements: We thank Anu Sagaran, Nithin Mohan, M. Vishnu, P.A. Arjun, R. Anuraj, S. Aswathy, M.S. Syamili and Arjun Ramachandran for the support in the field. We thank Sreehari R for helping with the preparation of the map of LOGOsthe study area. We are grateful to The Dean, College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University for encouragement and support. 10208 Buterlfes of Kole Wetlands Sar ath et al. Ffgure 1. Kole Wetlands - study area merge wfth fafrly level plateau lands. The dry lands of from the Western Ghats and low along steep slopes fll the Kole regfon adjofnfng the coastal belt have level they reach the plafns where they take very meanderfng topography and are under coconut plantafon (Johnkuty courses and jofn to form the mafn rfver fn the plafns. & Venugopal 1993). Even though there fs hfgh lood durfng monsoons, The Kole felds are low-lyfng tracts located 0.5–1 m the rfver pracfcally drfes up durfng summer. When ft below the mean sea level. In a major porfon of the area reaches the west the rfver branches fnto two, one gofng the land fs lat and ft remafns submerged for about sfx dfrectly to north jofns the Chetuva Lake and the other months fn a year. Thfs area extends from the low lands lowfng south jofns the Manakodf Lake (Johnkuty & fn the bank of Chalakudy Rfver fn the south to Thavannur Venugopal 1993). fn the north, lyfng parallel to the Arabfan Sea. These The Kecherf Rfver lows down from Machad Hflls, lands were formerly shallow lagoons whfch gradually got traverses west and then turns south and jofns the Kole sflted up. The lood waters fn the Kole areas are mafnly wetlands on the northern sfde drafnfng fnally fnto brought by two rfvers Kechery and Karuvannur whfch Enamakkal Lake, whfch fs connected to Chetuva Lake. fnally drafn fnto the Arabfan Sea. The rfver though small, has lash loods durfng monsoon. A network of mafn and cross canals connects the The Ponnanf Kole lfes fn the Kanjframukku Rfver dfferent regfons of the Kole to the rfvers. These canals basfn. The trfbutarfes that jofn the Kanjframukku Rfver also provfde good external drafnage. The earthen bunds are Vefkkadavu-thodu, Anjoor-thodu, Othallur-thodu, separate the canals from the Kole felds. Befng a lood Pallfkkara-thodu, Panthavoor-thodu, Manoor-thodu and plafn, water level may rfse as hfgh as 5.5m durfng peak Potannur-thodu. All these dry up durfng summer. The south-west monsoon. Kanjframukku Rfver serves as the mafn drafnage source of the area. The Potannur thodu drafns the area south Rfvers and Streams fn Kole Wetlands of Bharathapuzha namely Thavannur, Trfkkanapuram Karuvannur and Kechery are the two major rfvers fn and Potannur vfllages and jofns the upstream of Bfyyam Thrfssur Kole regfon. These rfvers dfscharge the lood Dam. waters fnto the low lyfng Kole area and rafse water level The Bfyyam Dam fs sftuated at the downstream to more than three meters. The Kole area funcfons as end of Kole wetlands. Thfs regulator prevents fngress the lood basfn for both the rfvers. of salt water and also stores a large quanfty of water. The Karuvannur Rfver has two trfbutarfes, namely, The Kanjframukku rfver dfrectly falls fnto the sea at Manalf and Kurumalf. Kurumalf fs formed of two Velfyamkode barrage whfch fs closed durfng the summer. trfbutarfes, Chfmmonf and Muplf. All these streams start The Kanolf canal connects the rfver to Bharathapuzha Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2017 | 9(5): 10208–10215 10209 Buterlfes of Kole Wetlands Sar ath et al. at Ponnanf and hence to the sea throughout the year. (C), 40–60 % as occasfonal (O), 20–40% as rare (R) and Ater the construcfon of Bfyyam dam salfnfty has been below 20% as very rare (VR) (ater Aneesh et al. 2013). controlled fn the Kole area. The Ponnanf Kole was flled wfth salt water fll the construcfon of Bfyyam Results dam and has resfdual salt content fn the sofl whfch fs A total of 58 specfes of buterlfes belongfng to befng consfderably reduced by annual dewaterfng and fve famflfes were fdenffed from the Kole Wetlands, frrfgafon (Johnkuty & Venugopal 1993). fncludfng one specfes Sahyadrf Bfrdwfng Trofdes mfnos that fs endemfc to the Western Ghats. Ffve specfes of the Clfmate buterlfes seen fn the Kole Wetlands have been lfsted The mean mfnfmum temperature fs 23.3 0C and the fn the schedules of the Wfldlffe Protecfon Act, 1972. Of mean maxfmum of 31.8 0C. The area recefves both these the Crfmson Rose Pachlfopta hector and Danafd south -west and north -east monsoons. The mean annual Eggly Hypolfmnas mfsfppus are fncluded fn the Schedule rafnfall fs 2,763mm. The mean number of rafny days per I of the Act. year fs 110 days (Kerala Agrfcultural Unfversfty weather Famfly Nymphalfdae (brush-footed buterlfes) stafon, Thrfssur). domfnated the buterly fauna of Kole Wetlands wfth 26 specfes, followed by Hesperffdae (skfppers) wfth Vegetafon types 12 specfes, Pferfdae (whftes and yellows) wfth seven The major vegetafon type at Kole Wetlands fs specfes, Papflfonfdae (swallow-tafls) wfth efght specfes wetland dependant herbs and shrubs.