Status of butterflies in Croatia

The checklist of butterflies of Croatia is a result of our recent attempts to document the butterfly diversity and create a national database. The overall picture shows a total of 196 species. The history of studying butterflies in Croatia begun in 19th century and the level of knowledge has raised considerably from that time. Still, information on distribution and especially the trend of species are poor. Problems of categorizing a poorly-documented fauna will be pointed. Some examples of recent changes in range and species diversity will be linked with the causes of change: habitat decline, loss and fragmentation. Recently we assessed the status of butterfly fauna of Croatia and created the Red Book of threatened butterflies of Croatia which is in press. About 25% of Croatia’s butterfly fauna is of conservation concern including species of national and European concern. All threatened species are legally protected. The main causes for the declines are thought to be changes in rural land use, especially land abandonment or agricultural intensification. Recent efforts have been made in designating Natura 2000 sites.