Our approach provides data on species richness across independent gradients of land-use intensity and climate. Furthermore, by combining Malaise traps and DNA-metabarcoding, our work is not limited to single factors such as biomass measurements or assessment of single taxa to reveal drivers of insect communities. We found the lowest species richness in arable fields embedded in agricultural landscapes, and the lowest biomass in settlements embedded in urban landscapes. The effects of land-use type were independent of those of local temperatures and climate. Biomass and richness measures differed according to land-use intensity. Our study recorded a difference in insect biomass of 42% from semi-natural to urban environments, but no difference from semi-natural to agricultural environments. This appears to be in contrast with the results documented in a similar analysis6, which showed a temporal decline in insect biomass of >75% in small, protected areas surrounded by an agricultural landscape. Interestingly, in Hallmann et al.6, the few plots in semi-natural landscapes also showed a similar temporal decline as those in agricultural landscapes (Supplementary Fig. 3b). On the other hand, the variation in total BIN richness matched the magnitude of the temporal decline (~35%) determined over a decade in grasslands and forests by Seibold et al.13
The hump-shaped seasonal pattern of biomass and associated daily biomass values were in accordance with the time series of Hallmann et al.6, thus demonstrating the comparability of our space-for-time approach with approaches based on time series (Supplementary Fig. 3). However, the contrasting phenological patterns of biomass and total BIN richness after controlling for temperature are evidence that both facets of biodiversity might respond differently, with biomass more strongly driven by pure season, e.g. via plant phenology or day-length, and BIN richness more dependent on local temperature. Divergent responses of biomass variation and species richness have already been described in temporal studies of insects in freshwater systems27 and nocturnal moths in the United Kingdom19,28,29, but not in studies of terrestrial arthropods, including those recorded in comprehensive datasets of hyper-diverse orders such as Diptera and the Hymenoptera.
The positive relationships between local temperature and biomass variation and BIN richness were consistent with earlier results6,20 and can be explained (1) by the higher activity of species at higher temperatures, which increases the likelihood of trapping30 and (2) by the fact that insects are ectothermic organisms, i.e., their metabolism is enhanced by increasing temperatures, which in turn can lead to higher reproduction and survival rates and thus to larger populations31. Our additional analyses on the negative effects occurring at the highest temperatures did not provide any such indications for our three measures. Moreover, insects, and in particular many endangered insect species in Central Europe, are thermophilic32, which would explain the observed response of total BIN richness, and especially the very steep response of the richness of red-listed species, to local temperature.
Despite the positive or neutral effect of macroclimate and the consistently positive effect of local temperature on insect biomass and BIN richness, global warming can cause shifts in insect communities that threaten biodiversity in specific biomes or elevations7,8,33, by a mismatch between host plant and insect phenology34,35 or by the trait-specific responses of species to climate variations, as shown for butterflies in California33. Nevertheless, the responses of insect populations and insect diversity to climate change are poorly understood, such that clear patterns, with distinct winners and losers, can still not be discerned33. In addition, insect responses to climate change are geographically variable and likely to be disproportionally higher at higher latitudes and elevations or in hot tropical or Mediterranean areas33. However, it is precisely the large topographic variation of mountains that may offer climate pockets that act as refugia, thus allowing insects to survive during periods of extreme climatic conditions or climate variation33,36. Our study supports this possibility, by showing that the responses of total insect richness, the richness of red-listed species, and biomass to higher local temperatures in a cultivated landscape in Central Europe (mean annual temperature of ~5 to 10 °C and annual precipitation between 550 and 2000 mm) are consistently positive. A further rise in temperature, as expected in the near future, poses a high risk of pushing more insect species in our study area to their thermal limits and even to extinction37.
The clear biomass patterns which we show indicate a continuous change of biomass from forests to arable fields and further to settlements, of total BIN richness from forests to arable fields, and of red-listed species richness from forests to meadows and arable fields. This underlines the importance of forests as a backbone of insect diversity in cultivated landscapes, and particularly of forest gaps, which are rich in species within forests13,38. Our study is the first to our knowledge to directly compare forests (and forest gaps) with agricultural and urban habitats. Comparable studies using standardized insect sampling across a broad range of land-use types are rare, but data on the biomass of moths obtained by light trapping in different habitats over many decades19 are consistent with our findings and indicate a general pattern that is independent of the sampling method. At the landscape scale, we found biomass was highest in agricultural landscapes and lowest in urban landscapes, whereas red-listed richness was highest in semi-natural landscapes, followed by urban landscapes and lowest in agricultural landscapes. Although we could not confirm the negative effects of agricultural landscapes on biomass, as described by Hallmann et al.6, our results are in line with those of Seibold et al.13, who reported negative effects of surrounding arable fields on the temporal trends in grasslands in terms of species richness but not insect biomass.
The contrasting pure seasonal patterns of biomass variation and BIN richness, as well as their different responses to land use, may have methodological or biological causes. A possible methodological reason for the low partial effects of season on BIN richness during summer but high partial effects on total biomass is that high insect biomass occurs particularly during periods of high temperatures, which would have increased evaporation of the ethanol used for preservation, accelerating the degradation of DNA. Similar effects were shown for samples stored over long periods39 of time. However, in our study, the collection bottles contained sufficient amounts of ethanol such that a methodological effect due to ethanol evaporation was unlikely. Moreover, high temperatures and not the pure seasonal effect better explained the higher BIN richness in this study. A second methodological reason for the lower BIN richness is that small species are often “overlooked” in biomass-rich samples40,41,42. To avoid this problem, we divided each sample into two fractions (small and large species) and sequenced them separately. With the exclusion of these methodological reasons, the most likely explanation for our findings is a biological one related to the composition of the samples. An increase in large species in certain habitats or at a certain time of year could influence biomass but not necessarily the total number of species. However, our additional models of total biomass using the BIN richness of the most important taxonomic orders as predictors provided an important clue. Across all habitats, biomass variation was best explained by the increase in BIN richness of three species groups, Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera. Of the diverse taxa Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera, only the BIN richness of the latter positively affected total biomass, and it was principally the richness of the two groups with many large species (Orthoptera and Lepidoptera) driving the pure seasonal effect. This can be explained by the fact that Lepidoptera abundance peaks in July43, thus coinciding with the higher abundances of most species of hemimetabolous Orthoptera during the summer44, and therefore accounting for the purely seasonal peak of insect biomass in summer.
The contrasting responses of biomass variation and BIN richness point to differences in the respective mechanisms. Insect biomass is positively related to productivity and is thus highest in agricultural landscapes and in forests habitats embedded in agricultural landscapes managed to maximize plant productivity and continuous plant biomass45,46. Insect biomass is lowest in urban environments, where productivity is limited due to a high percentage of sealed areas without vegetation. However, insect biomass along gradients of urbanization has been poorly investigated47 such that large differences in the negative effects of urbanization on the abundances of different taxonomic groups cannot be ruled out48. Moreover, urban areas include additional potential stressors, such as light pollution, that might also negatively affect insect biomass49. In contrast to biomass, the richness of all taxa and of threatened species was relatively high in urban habitats. This was especially the case for urban habitats embedded in semi-natural landscapes, although a similar species richness may occur through the interplay of semi-natural habitats with green spaces characterized by a highly variable design and management50 as well as with the natural but also anthropogenically enhanced plant diversity of urban areas47,51,52.
The lowest BIN richness generally observed in our study, in arable fields embedded in agricultural landscapes, is consistent with the results of a recent meta-analysis of insect time series9. In that study, the temporal declines in insect populations of terrestrial invertebrates were largest in regions with generally high agricultural land-use intensity, such as Central Europe and the American Midwest. Our direct comparison of different land-use types independent of gradients of macro- and microclimate suggests that the strong declines in insect richness reported for several taxa5 are indeed driven by intensive agriculture and the associated homogenization of the landscape53, not by urban environments. To assess the significance of our two main results on biomass and species richness, however, it is necessary to consider the proportions of the land-use types in question. In our study, agricultural land comprised 48% of the area whereas settlements accounted for ~12%. Since habitat amount is a fundamental parameter for insect populations, it must also be taken into account in a country-wide strategy11.
Our finding of a lack of significant interactions between the highly significant local temperature and land use contrasts in part with the previously reported strong effects resulting from the interaction between land use and climate along the elevational gradient of the Kilimanjaro. That finding implied that land-use effects are mediated by climate, especially at high elevations17. Interaction effects between land use and climate may thus occur mainly within more extreme climates54 rather than within the temperate climate exemplified by our study region. By considering macroclimate and the directly measured local temperature and humidity as well as land use, we were able to show that pure land-use effects, when evaluated as habitat effects controlled for local temperature and humidity, strongly influence insect populations. However, despite the increasing awareness among scientists and urban planners that land use at local and landscape scales impacts not only insects but also local climate, the implications have mostly been ignored in international climate negotiations55. Trees, with the reduced local temperatures offered by their canopy layer56 and their hosting of a high species richness of insects, as shown in our study, are thus of particular importance as refuges for insect diversity in temperate zones.
By covering the full range of land-use intensities along the climate gradient of a typical cultivated region and measuring both insect biomass and total insect richness, our study’s methodology provided mechanistic insights into the changes of insect populations in areas where a meta-analysis identified the most severe population declines9. Nevertheless, additional studies should focus on biomes other than the cultivated landscapes of the temperate zone, such as cold boreal, dry Mediterranean, or hot tropical areas. Here, the different characteristics of the biome may result in land-use intensification being of less importance than climate change. In addition, the use of metabarcoding to identify all insects within a sample broadens the range for similar space-for-time studies. In contrast to well replicated, standardized time-series data that may require decades to generate the information needed to guide conservation actions, space-for-time approaches covering full gradients of land use and climate are a viable option to identify the drivers of insect decline and thus provide timely information for decision-makers; however, replications from several years should be included to take into account the effects of extreme events.
The weak effect of climate variables on insect biomass but the consistently positive effect of local temperature on biomass variation and BIN richness suggests that, at least within the climate range of our temperate study region, the recent warming that has led to higher local temperatures should promote insect biomass and species richness. However, further warming, extreme heat, and drought events may negatively affect biodiversity, although non-linear responses can be expected in other climates or across longer gradients. Moreover, the strong dependency of local temperature on land use indicates that changes in land use impact local climate conditions, such as by accelerating temperature increases in agricultural and urban regions. The contrasting responses of biomass variation and BIN richness to local and landscape-scale land use point to differential effects of shifts in land use on insect populations, with ongoing urbanization leading to a decline in biomass, and conversion to agriculture to a decline in species richness. Based on our results, we recommend that actions aimed at preventing further insect decline should focus on (1) increasing insect biomass, for example by improving “green” habitats in urban environments57 and reducing the extent of vegetation-free sealed surfaces and (2) stopping the ongoing loss of species, by adapting agri-environmental schemes and promoting habitats dominated by trees, even in urban environments.
Source: Ecology - nature.com
