Effects of land cover and protected areas on flying insect diversity

Widespread insect losses are a critical global problem. Mitigating this problem requires identifying the principal drivers across different taxa and determining which insects are covered by protected areas. However, doing so is hindered by missing information on most species owing to extremely high insect diversity and difficulties in morphological identification. To address this knowledge gap, we used one of the most comprehensive insect DNA metabarcoding data sets assembled (encompassing 31,846 flying insect species) in which data were collected from a network of 75 Malaise traps distributed across Germany. Collection sites encompass gradients of land cover, weather, and climate, along with differences in site protection status, which allowed us to gain broader insights into how insects respond to these factors. We examined changes in total insect biomass, species richness, temporal turnover, and shifts in the composition of taxa, key functional groups (pollinators, threatened species, and invasive species), and feeding traits. Lower insect biomass generally equated to lower richness of all insects and higher temporal turnover, suggesting that biomass loss translates to biodiversity loss and less stable communities. Spatial variability in insect biomass and composition was primarily driven by land cover, rather than weather or climate change. As vegetation and land-cover heterogeneity increased, insect biomass increased by 50% in 2019 and 56% in 2020 and total species richness by 58% and 33%, respectively. Similarly, areas with low-vegetation habitats exhibited the highest richness of key taxa, including pollinators and threatened species, and the widest variety of feeding traits. However, these habitats tended to be less protected despite their higher diversity. Our results highlight the value of heterogeneous low vegetation for promoting overall insect biomass and diversity and that better protection of insects requires improved protection and management of unforested areas, where many biodiversity hotspots and key taxa occur.

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Publication Details

Journal
Conservation Biology
Published
2024-12-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14425
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Plant and animal studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.29
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article

Effects of land cover and protected areas on flying insect diversity

James S. Sinclair, Peter Haase, Martin Sorg, Mark Frenzel et al.
10 citations
Conservation Biology
Plant and animal studies
10.29
article

Effects of land cover and protected areas on flying insect diversity

James S. Sinclair, Peter Haase, Martin Sorg, Mark Frenzel, Stefan Stoll, Gerhard Zotz, Carsten Morkel, Yuanheng Li, Frank Dziock, Florian Leese, Martin Wilmking, Jörg Müller, Ellen A. R. Welti, Julian Enß, Dirk Weis, Dominik Buchner, Robert Künast, Steffen U. Pauls, Mark O. Gessner, Claus Bässler, Sönke Twietmeyer, Andreas Marten, Thomas Hörren, Ronny Richter, Jörn Buse, Sebastian Seibold, Wolfgang W. Weisser, Benedikt Wiggering
article en
10 citations

Abstract

Widespread insect losses are a critical global problem. Mitigating this problem requires identifying the principal drivers across different taxa and determining which insects are covered by protected areas. However, doing so is hindered by missing information on most species owing to extremely high insect diversity and difficulties in morphological identification. To address this knowledge gap, we used one of the most comprehensive insect DNA metabarcoding data sets assembled (encompassing 31,846 flying insect species) in which data were collected from a network of 75 Malaise traps distributed across Germany. Collection sites encompass gradients of land cover, weather, and climate, along with differences in site protection status, which allowed us to gain broader insights into how insects respond to these factors. We examined changes in total insect biomass, species richness, temporal turnover, and shifts in the composition of taxa, key functional groups (pollinators, threatened species, and invasive species), and feeding traits. Lower insect biomass generally equated to lower richness of all insects and higher temporal turnover, suggesting that biomass loss translates to biodiversity loss and less stable communities. Spatial variability in insect biomass and composition was primarily driven by land cover, rather than weather or climate change. As vegetation and land-cover heterogeneity increased, insect biomass increased by 50% in 2019 and 56% in 2020 and total species richness by 58% and 33%, respectively. Similarly, areas with low-vegetation habitats exhibited the highest richness of key taxa, including pollinators and threatened species, and the widest variety of feeding traits. However, these habitats tended to be less protected despite their higher diversity. Our results highlight the value of heterogeneous low vegetation for promoting overall insect biomass and diversity and that better protection of insects requires improved protection and management of unforested areas, where many biodiversity hotspots and key taxa occur.

Conservation BiologyVol. 39(4)
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE), Trier University of Applied Sciences (DE), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE), University of Würzburg (DE), Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (US), Bavarian Forest National Park (DE), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M (DE), Universität Greifswald (DE), National Zoological Park (US), Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE), LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (DE), Schön Klinik Berchtesgadener Land (DE), Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden – University of Applied Sciences (DE), Conservation Biology Institute, Technische Universität Berlin (DE), University of Bayreuth (DE), University of Duisburg-Essen (DE), Technical University of Munich (DE), Technische Universität Dresden (DE), Leipzig University (DE), Harz University of Applied Sciences (DE)
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Plant and animal studies
10.29
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