The world is becoming less colourful. Across #Brazil and much of the #tropics, #butterflies are fading as #forests give way to industrial #plantations. Once vibrant with flashes of red, blue and gold, their wings are now turning brown and grey. New research shows that colourful #species struggle to survive in eucalyptus plantations where the #light is harsh, the #air is dry and the forest floor is stripped bare. The result is an eerie quietness.
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#Scientists describe a sense of emptiness where the rich texture of life has drained away.
Colour in #butterflies is not decoration. It evolved over millions of years as a language of #survival helping them attract mates, evade predators and blend into complex forest backdrops. In diverse #ecosystems colour signals #abundance and #complexity. In degraded #landscapes drabness becomes an advantage. The most colourful species are often the first to disappear when native #vegetation is lost,
echoing the fate of the peppered moth during the Industrial Revolution which darkened to match the soot of British cities.
Researchers call this process discoloration, the gradual bleaching of life’s palette as humans replace complexity with uniformity. Coral reefs are whitening. Oceans are turning green. Even rainbows are predicted to fade from polluted skies. The dulling of nature mirrors the collapse of ecological function.
When colour diversity fades, so too does the web of interactions that keeps #ecosystems alive.
Source: Spaniol, R. L., Mendonça, M. de S., Jr., Hartz, S. M., Iserhard, C. A., & Stevens, M. (2020). Discolouring the Amazon Rainforest: How deforestation is affecting butterfly coloration. Biodiversity and Conservation, 29(11), 2821–2838. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-01999-3
#TheGuardian, 6 October 2025. Photographs by Roberto García Roa.
via Climate Apocalypse
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Discolouring the Amazon Rainforest: how deforestation is affecting butterfly coloration