In the Northern Hemisphere, northward shifts due to global warming are apparent in various organisms such as butterflies, birds, and plants. In South Korea, ranges of butterflies are expected to shift northwards. We tested whether distribution limits of Korean butterflies shift northwards. We used two Korean butterfly atlases (1938-1950, 1977-2011) for analysis of the range shifts. Northern limits of southern species moved significantly northward (ca. 60 km) for 50 years, whereas southern limits of northern species did not significantly move northwards nor southwards. This finding parallels with other studies on butterflies and birds in Europe and North America.

• Tae-Sung Kwon(Division of Forest Ecology, Korea Forest Research Institute)
• Cheol Min Lee(Division of Forest Ecology, Korea Forest Research Institute)
• Sung-Soo Kim(Research Institute for East Asian Environment and Biology)