蝶類對於環境、氣候變化敏感度高，於不同海拔高度，有不同的林相分布和氣候變化，蝶類的分布會隨著海拔高度有不同的變化，因此其分布情形便可反映出環境變化。然而，在台灣過去有關物種於整體海拔分布的研究資料尚少，仍需更完整且充分之研究資料進行分析，以供作生態保育及教育之應用依據。
本研究以太魯閣國家公園為例，於海拔80公尺至3200公尺設置8個主要樣區進行蝶類資源調查，並以蝶類之種豐富度及兩種常用的多樣性指數—Simpson’s index(D’)及Shannon-Wiener index(H’)，探討蝶類於整體海拔的分布情形及與環境之關係。結果顯示，蝶類之種豐富度隨海拔高度愈高而愈低，呈現線性遞減的分布模式。以多樣性指數之計算來看，海拔高度900~1000公尺的豁然亭樣區為蝶類多樣性最高之範圍，而意外地，海拔最高的小風口樣區則以H’值反映出相較於松泉崗樣區有較高的蝶類均勻度，顯示環境嚴峻的高海拔地區仍蘊藏了豐富的蝶類資源。在季節變化方面，各海拔樣區於秋季皆有一明顯的蝶類數量高峰，但多樣性指數並沒有明顯增加的傾向，此現象主要受某些蝶類其個體的大量出現所致。
最後，本研究並嘗試篩選與各海拔樣區整體群聚具有高度相關且種類較少的指標物種。藉由這些指標物種之群聚波動或依其特性、活動習性等能反映不同的環境現況，不僅能瞭解大範圍的環境變動，亦能探究局部性細微的環境差異。

山中正夫，1974。 台灣產蝶類の分佈(4)。蝶と蛾 25, Suppl. 1: 41-42。
林文智，2004。台灣自然觀察圖鑑：台灣的野花—低海拔篇1300種。渡假出版社有限公司。
林建村。1994。溪頭營林區蝶相及其棲地之研究。國立台灣大學森林學研究所。碩士論文。
徐堉峰，1997。台灣蝶圖鑑—第一卷。台灣省立鳳凰谷鳥園。
徐堉峰，2002。台灣蝶圖鑑—第二卷。台灣省立鳳凰谷鳥園。
徐堉峰，2006。台灣蝶圖鑑—第三卷。國立鳳凰谷鳥園。
徐國士、宋永昌、呂勝由。2001。臺灣植被類型圖說。國立台灣科學教育館。
徐國士、林則桐、陳玉峰、呂勝由。1984。太魯閣國家公園植物生態資源調查報告。內政部營建署。
徐靖雯。2006。Bray-Curtis指標與其他相似性指標之模擬探討。國立清華大學統計學研究所碩士論文。
許皓捷，2003。台灣山區鳥類群聚的空間及季節變異。台大動物學研究所。博士論文。
許皓捷，2006。太魯閣國家公園鳥類群聚之研究（一）。內政部營建署太魯閣國家公園管理處。
陳玉峰，1995。台灣植被誌（第一卷）。玉山社出版事業股份有限公司。
陳妙玲，1991。蝶類組成與其棲息地植群關係之研究-以宜蘭農工專校實驗林場為例。國立台灣大學森林研究所碩士論文。
曾盛堂，1996。太魯閣國家公園合歡山地區危險因子之調查與分析。國立中興大學水土保持研究所碩士論文。
楊平世，1989。太魯閣國家公園之昆蟲相研究。太魯閣國家公園管理處。
楊平世，1993。太魯閣國家公園高山地區昆蟲資源之研究。太魯閣國家公園管理處。
楊遠波、趙榮台、林則桐、呂勝由，1991。太魯閣國家公園蜜源植物之調查。太魯閣國家公園管理處。
楊遠波、劉和義、呂勝由，1999。台灣維管束植物簡誌（第貳卷）。行政院農業委員會。
福田晴夫、浜榮一、葛谷健、高橋昭、高橋真弓、田中蕃、田中洋、若林守男、渡邊康之，1983。原色日本蝶類生態圖鑑（II）。保育社，pp.195-199。
賴國祥，2000。合歡山的彩色精靈—植物植物解說圖鑑。行政院農委會特有生物研究保育中心。
濱野榮次，1987。台灣蝶類生態大圖鑑。牛頓出版社。
Axmacher, J. C., Holtmann, G., Scheuermann, L., Brehm, G., Muller-Hohenstein, K. & Fiedler, K. 2004. Diversity of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) along an Afrotropical elevational rainforest transect. Diversity and Distributions 10: 293-302.
Beaumont, L. J. & Hughes, L. 2002. Potential changes in the distributions of latitudinally restricted Australian butterfly species in response to climate change. Global Change Biology 8: 954-971.
Beccaloni, G. W. & Gaston, K. J. 1995. Predicting the species richness of Neotropical forest butterflies: Ithomiinae(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) as indicators. Biological Conservation 71: 77-86.
Brehm, G., Colwell, R. K. & Kluge, J. 2007. The role of environment and mid-domain effect on moth species richness along a tropical gradient. Global Ecology & Biogeography 16: 205-219.
Brown, Jr, K. S. 1997. Diversity, disturbance, and sustainable use of Neotropical forests: insects as indicators for conservation monitoring. Journal of Insect Conservation 1: 25-42.
Caldas, A. & Robbins, R. K. 2003. Modified Pollard transects for assessing tropical butterfly abundance and diversity. Biological Conservation 110: 211-219.
Chao, A., Chazdon, R. L., Colwell, R. K. & Shen, T. J. 2006. Abundance-based similarity indices and their estimation when there are unseen species in samples. Biometrics 62: 361-371.
Clark, K. R. & Warwick, R. M. 1998. Quantifying structural redundancy in ecological communities. Oecologia 113: 278-289.
Dennis, R. H., Hodgson, J. G., Grenyer, R., Shreeve, T. G. & Roy, D. B. 2004. Host plants and butterfly biology. Do host-plant strategies drive butterfly status? Ecological ectomology 29: 12-26.
DeVries, P. J. & Walla, T. R. 1999. Species diversity in spatial and temporal dimensions of fruit-feeding butterflies from two Ecuadorian rainforests. Biological journal of the Linnean Society 68: 333-353.
DeVries, P. J. 1988. Stratification of fruit-feeding nymphalid butterflies in a Costa Rican rainforest. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 26: 98-108.
Douwes, P. 1976. Activity in Heodes virgaureae (Lep., Lycaenidae) in relation to air temperature, solar radiation, and time of day. Oecologia 22: 287-298.
Duelli, P. & Obrist, M. K. 2003. Biodiversity indicators: the choice of values and measures. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 98: 87-98.
Fleishman, E., Austin, G. T. & Weiss, A. D. 1998. An empirical test of Rapoport’s rule: elevational gradients in montane butterfly communities. Ecology 79: 2482-2493.
Gaston, J. K. 2000. Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature 405: 220-227.
Groot, M. D., Kleijn, D. & Jogan, N. 2007. Species groups occupying different trophic levels respond differently to the invasion of semi-natural vegetation by Solidago Canadensis. Biological Conservation 136: 612-617.
Hilt, N. & Fiedler, K. 2005. Diversity and composition of Arctiidae moth ensembles along a successional gradient in the Ecuadorian Andes. Diversity and Distributions 11: 387-398.
Horner-Devine, M. C., Lage, M., Hughes, J. B. & Bohannan, B. J. M. 2004. A taxa-area relationship for bacteria. Nature 432: 750-753.
Kessler, M. 2001. Patterns of diversity and range size of selected
plant groups along an elevational transect in the Bolivian
Andes. Biodiversity Conservation 10: 1897-1921.
Kluge, J., Kessler, M. & Dunn, R. R. 2006. What drives elevational patterns of diversity? A test of geometric constraints, climate and species pool effects for pteridophytes on an elevational gradient in Costa Rica. Global Ecology & Biogeography 15: 358-371.
Konvicka, M., Maradova, M., Benes, J., Fric, Z. & Kepka, P. 2003. Uphill shifts in distribution of butterflies in the Czech Republic: effects of changing climate detected on a regional scale. Global Ecology & Biogeography 12:403-410.
Krebs, C. J. 1989. Species diversity measures. Ecological Methodology. Harper &Row. New York.
Kremen, C. 1992. Assessing the indicator properties of species assemblages for natural areas monitoring. Ecological Applications 2: 203-217.
Lindenmayer, D. B., Margules, C. R. & Botkin, D. B. 2000. Indicators of biodiversity for ecologically sustainable forest management. Conservation Biology 14: 941-950.
Magurran, A. E. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton university press. P. 79.
Masaki, S. 1980. Summer diapause. Annual Reviews 25:1-25.
Nelson, S. M. 2007. Butterflies (Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) as potential ecological indicators of riparian quality in the semi-arid western United States. Ecological Indicators 7: 469-480.
Nickel, H. & Hildebrandt, J. 2003. Auchenorrhyncha communities as indicators of disturbance in grasslands (Insect, Hemiptera)— a case study from the Elbe flood plains (northern Germany). Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 98:183-199.
Nor, S. MD. 2001. Elevational diversity patterns of small mammals on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Global Ecology & Biogeography 10: 41-62.
Noss, R. F. 1990. Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: a hierarchical approach. Conservation Biology 4: 355-363.
Pollard, E. 1982. Monitoring butterfly abundance in relation to the management of a nature reserve. Biological Conservation 24: 317-328.
Pollard, E. 1988. Temperature, rainfall and butterfly numbers. Journal of Applied Ecology 25: 819-828.
Pyrcz, T. W. & Wojtusiak, J. 2002. The vertical distribution of pronophiline butterflies (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) along an elevational transect in Monte Zerpa (Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela) with remarks on their diversity and parapatric distribution. Global Ecology & Biogeography 11: 211-221.
Rahbek, C. 1995. The elevational gradient of species richness: a uniform pattern? Ecography 18: 200-205.
Ricketts, T. H., Daily, G. C. & Ehrlich, P. P. 2002. Does butterfly diversity predict moth diversity? Testing a popular indicator taxon at local scales. Biological Conservation 103: 361-370.
Rohde, K. 1999. Latitudinal gradients in species diversity and Rapoport’s rule revisited: a review of recent work and what can parasites teach us about the cause the gradients? Ecography 22: 593-613.
Sparrow, H. R., Sisk, T. D., Ehrlich, P. R. & Murphy, D. D. 1994. Techniques and guidelines for monitoring Neotropical butterflies. Conservation Biology 8: 800-809.
Stevens, G. C. 1992. The elevational gradient in altitudinal range: an extension of Rapoport’s latitudinal rule to altitude. The American Naturalist 140: 893-911.
Stiling, P. D. 2002. Community ecology. Ecology:theories and applications. 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, New jersey.
Walpole, M. J. & Sheldon, I. R. 1999. Sampling butterflies in tropical rainforest: an evaluation of a transect walk method. Biological Conservation 87: 85-91.
Whittaker, R. H. 1972. Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon 21: 213-251.