Phys.com April 27, 2023
The continuing decline in the diversity and biomass of insects and other arthropods has caused great concern not only among scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders. A major reason for this is that many ecosystem services depend on diverse insect communities. Despite numerous studies on the dynamics of insect communities their causes are still not fully understood. An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Germany) addressed the causes and consequences of population and diversity trends spanning 10 to 120 years aiming at a better mechanistic understanding of the observed dynamics. covering freshwater and terrestrial insect taxa across five biomes. They linked population trends to species-specific functional traits and examining spatial variation in population trends and their underlying drivers. Three of the major drivers of insect declines are climate change, land-use change, and invasive species. The insect communities lose beta diversity becoming more homogeneous. They concluded that homogenization will likely have drastic consequences for ecosystem functioning and stability… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Overview of the relations between drivers of insect population trends and their effects on communities and ecosystems… Credit: Biol. Lett.19 2023 000720230007Â