Relationship of insect biomass and richness with land use along a climate gradient

Johannes Uhler, Sarah Redlich, Jie Zhang, Torsten Hothorn, Cynthia Tobisch, Jörg Ewald, Simon Thorn, Sebastian Seibold, Oliver Mitesser, Jérôme Morinière, Vedran Bozicevic, Caryl S. Benjamin, Jana Englmeier, Ute Fricke, Cristina Ganuza, Maria Haensel, Rebekka Riebl, Sandra Rojas-Botero, Thomas Rummler, Lars Uphus, Stefan Schmidt, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter and Jörg Müller ()
Additional contact information
Johannes Uhler: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Sarah Redlich: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Jie Zhang: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Torsten Hothorn: University Zürich
Cynthia Tobisch: Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences
Jörg Ewald: Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences
Simon Thorn: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Sebastian Seibold: Technical University of Munich
Oliver Mitesser: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Jérôme Morinière: AIM – Advanced Identification Methods GmbH
Vedran Bozicevic: AIM – Advanced Identification Methods GmbH
Caryl S. Benjamin: Technical University of Munich
Jana Englmeier: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Ute Fricke: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Cristina Ganuza: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Maria Haensel: University of Bayreuth
Rebekka Riebl: University of Bayreuth
Sandra Rojas-Botero: Technical University of Munich
Thomas Rummler: University of Augsburg
Lars Uphus: Technical University of Munich
Stefan Schmidt: SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen
Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Jörg Müller: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Recently reported insect declines have raised both political and social concern. Although the declines have been attributed to land use and climate change, supporting evidence suffers from low taxonomic resolution, short time series, a focus on local scales, and the collinearity of the identified drivers. In this study, we conducted a systematic assessment of insect populations in southern Germany, which showed that differences in insect biomass and richness are highly context dependent. We found the largest difference in biomass between semi-natural and urban environments (−42%), whereas differences in total richness (−29%) and the richness of threatened species (−56%) were largest from semi-natural to agricultural environments. These results point to urbanization and agriculture as major drivers of decline. We also found that richness and biomass increase monotonously with increasing temperature, independent of habitat. The contrasting patterns of insect biomass and richness question the use of these indicators as mutual surrogates. Our study provides support for the implementation of more comprehensive measures aimed at habitat restoration in order to halt insect declines.

Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26181-3

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26181-3

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