Arthropod decline in grasslands and forests is associated with landscape-level drivers

Sebastian Seibold (), Martin M. Gossner, Nadja K. Simons, Nico Blüthgen, Jörg Müller, Didem Ambarlı, Christian Ammer, Jürgen Bauhus, Markus Fischer, Jan C. Habel, Karl Eduard Linsenmair, Thomas Nauss, Caterina Penone, Daniel Prati, Peter Schall, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Juliane Vogt, Stephan Wöllauer and Wolfgang W. Weisser
Additional contact information
Sebastian Seibold: Technical University of Munich
Martin M. Gossner: Forest Entomology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Nadja K. Simons: Technical University of Munich
Nico Blüthgen: Technical University of Darmstadt
Jörg Müller: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Didem Ambarlı: Technical University of Munich
Christian Ammer: University of Göttingen
Jürgen Bauhus: University of Freiburg
Markus Fischer: University of Bern
Jan C. Habel: Technical University of Munich
Karl Eduard Linsenmair: Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
Thomas Nauss: Philipps-University Marburg
Caterina Penone: University of Bern
Daniel Prati: University of Bern
Peter Schall: University of Göttingen
Ernst-Detlef Schulze: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Juliane Vogt: Technical University of Munich
Stephan Wöllauer: Philipps-University Marburg
Wolfgang W. Weisser: Technical University of Munich

Nature, 2019, vol. 574, issue 7780, 671-674

Abstract: Abstract Recent reports of local extinctions of arthropod species1, and of massive declines in arthropod biomass2, point to land-use intensification as a major driver of decreasing biodiversity. However, to our knowledge, there are no multisite time series of arthropod occurrences across gradients of land-use intensity with which to confirm causal relationships. Moreover, it remains unclear which land-use types and arthropod groups are affected, and whether the observed declines in biomass and diversity are linked to one another. Here we analyse data from more than 1 million individual arthropods (about 2,700 species), from standardized inventories taken between 2008 and 2017 at 150 grassland and 140 forest sites in 3 regions of Germany. Overall gamma diversity in grasslands and forests decreased over time, indicating loss of species across sites and regions. In annually sampled grasslands, biomass, abundance and number of species declined by 67%, 78% and 34%, respectively. The decline was consistent across trophic levels and mainly affected rare species; its magnitude was independent of local land-use intensity. However, sites embedded in landscapes with a higher cover of agricultural land showed a stronger temporal decline. In 30 forest sites with annual inventories, biomass and species number—but not abundance—decreased by 41% and 36%, respectively. This was supported by analyses of all forest sites sampled in three-year intervals. The decline affected rare and abundant species, and trends differed across trophic levels. Our results show that there are widespread declines in arthropod biomass, abundance and the number of species across trophic levels. Arthropod declines in forests demonstrate that loss is not restricted to open habitats. Our results suggest that major drivers of arthropod decline act at larger spatial scales, and are (at least for grasslands) associated with agriculture at the landscape level. This implies that policies need to address the landscape scale to mitigate the negative effects of land-use practices.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1684-3

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