Phys.org April 21, 2022
Although research has shown that biodiversity changes are driven primarily by land-use change and increasingly by climate change, the potential for interaction between these drivers and insect biodiversity on the global scale remains unclear. Researchers in the UK have shown that the interaction between indices of historical climate warming and intensive agricultural land use is associated with reductions of almost 50% in the abundance and 27% in the number of species within insect assemblages relative to those in less-disturbed habitats with lower rates of historical climate warming. These patterns are particularly evident in the tropical realm. A high availability of nearby natural habitat often mitigates reductions in insect abundance. According to the researchers their work shows that insect biodiversity will probably benefit from mitigating climate change, preserving natural habitat within landscapes and reducing the intensity of agriculture…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Locations of sites and responses of insect total abundance and species richness to land use and land-use intensity. Credit: Nature (2022)Â