Beaches in Barcelona’s metropolitan area unexpectedly act as butterfly reserves
The third report of the mBMS, Barcelona’s Metropolitan Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, contains some unexpected findings: the beaches in Barcelona’s metropolitan area are not only inhabited by butterflies, but by butterfly communities unlike those found in the local parks. This means that the beaches act as reserves for certain species of butterflies. Some species found in only relatively small numbers in parks are more abundant at beaches, making such seaside environments especially important for biodiversity conservation in the metropolitan area.