Global meta-analysis of urbanization stressors on insect abundance, richness, and traits

Vaz, Stéphanie; Manes, Stella; Khattar, Gabriel; Mendes, Mariana; Silveira, Luiz Felipe Lima da; Mendes, Eduardo Teles Barbosa; Rodrigues, Erimágna de Morais; Gama-Maia, Danielle; Lorini, Maria Lúcia; Macêdo, Margarete Valverde de; Paiva, Paulo Cesar

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165967

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…These findings are of particular concern considering that our urban sites were situated within a relatively small city (approximately 150,000 total residents and 860 residents/km 2 ) and were located within forested protected parks, highlighting that urban parks alone will not maintain insect biodiversity at comparable numbers to rural areas. Insights from a global meta‐analysis suggest that urbanization has a more pronounced impact on insect abundance and richness in tropical areas compared to temperate regions (Vaz et al., 2023). This phenomenon may in part be attributed to the higher baseline abundance and richness found in these areas but much more work is needed to understand the magnitude of losses in the most urbanized areas and mechanistic basis for those losses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Equally important as expanding geographic foci is extending our understanding of urbanization impacts across insect life-stages. While the effect of urbanization on the abundance and diversity of adult insects has been assessed (Fenoglio et al, 2020;Piano et al, 2020;Vaz et al, 2023), larval life-stages have received much less attention, and we are unaware of studies that have simultaneously collected larval and adult data to examine trends across urbanization gradients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Equally important as expanding geographic foci is extending our understanding of urbanization impacts across insect life‐stages. While the effect of urbanization on the abundance and diversity of adult insects has been assessed (Fenoglio et al., 2020; Piano et al., 2020; Vaz et al., 2023), larval life‐stages have received much less attention, and we are unaware of studies that have simultaneously collected larval and adult data to examine trends across urbanization gradients. In contrast to the growing evidence documenting overall declines of adult moth abundance in response to urbanization (Merckx & Van Dyck, 2019; Straka et al., 2021), the few studies focusing on caterpillar abundance or biomass have documented increases (Isaksson & Andersson, 2007), decreases (Marciniak et al., 2007; Seress et al., 2018), or no evidence of significant trends (Solonen, 2001) in urbanized environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Substantial urbanization‐driven declines of larval and adult moths in a subtropical environment

Belitz,

Sawyer,

Hendrick

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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Recent work has shown the decline of insect abundance, diversity and biomass, with potential implications for ecosystem services. These declines are especially pronounced in regions with high human activity, and urbanization is emerging as a significant contributing factor. However, the scale of these declines and the traits that determine variation in species‐specific responses remain less well understood, especially in subtropical and tropical regions, where insect diversity is high and urban footprints are rapidly expanding. Here, we surveyed moths across an entire year in protected forested sites across an urbanization gradient to test how caterpillar and adult life stages of subtropical moths (Lepidoptera) are impacted by urbanization. Specifically, we assess how urban development affects the total biomass of caterpillars, abundance of adult moths and quantify how richness and phylogenetic diversity of macro‐moths are impacted by urban development. Additionally, we explore how life‐history traits condition species' responses to urban development. At the community level, we find that urban development decreases caterpillar biomass and adult moth abundance. We also find sharp declines of adult macro‐moths in response to urban development across the phylogeny, leading to a decrease in species richness and phylogenetic diversity in more urban sites. Finally, our study found that smaller macro‐moths are less impacted by urban development than larger macro‐moths in subtropical environments, perhaps highlighting the tradeoffs of metabolic costs of urban heat favoring smaller moths over the relative benefits of dispersal for larger moths. In summary, our research underscores the far‐reaching consequences of urbanization on moths and provides compelling evidence that urban forests alone may not be sufficient to safeguard biodiversity in cities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Substantial urbanization‐driven declines of larval and adult moths in a subtropical environment

Belitz,

Sawyer,

Hendrick

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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“…Abundance and species richness increased with the cover of buildings in a 50 m radius (even though this variable was not retained in the final GLMM of species richness). Anthropogenic stress factors, such as urbanisation, reduce the overall abundance and richness of insect communities (Vaz et al, 2023) and may lead to ecological homogenisation (Eggleton, 2020;Knop, 2016;McKinney, 2006) with specialist species being negatively impacted (Knop, 2016;Shuisong et al, 2013). However, some species benefit from urbanisation, including non-native or invasive species (Bertelsmeier, 2021;McKinney, 2006), generalist species (Shuisong et al, 2013) or human commensal species such as mosquitoes (Perrin et al, 2022).…”

Section: Landscape and Local Factors Driving Community Diversity And ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fallen fruit: A backup resource during winter shaping fruit fly communities

Deconninck,

Boulembert,

Eslin

et al. 2024

Agri and Forest Entomology

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Fallen fruits provide important feeding and breeding substrates for insects such as Drosophilidae and can be a potential trophic reservoir when usual host fruits become scarce. Recently, two invasive fruit fly species, Drosophila suzukii and Chymomyza amoena, have become established in Europe and are expected to alter existing Drosophilidae communities. In this study, carried out between September 2021 and April 2022 in northern France, we aimed to disentangle the relative roles of microclimatic, landscape and local factors driving the diversity of the Drosophilidae community in decaying fruit across seasons. Minimum site temperature during the week preceding sampling and the proportion of rotten fruit tissue had the strongest positive influence on Drosophilidae abundance and species richness. Drosophilidae abundance also increased with urbanisation (portion of building cover) around the sampled trees. Decaying apples were important breeding sites for C. amoena across seasons, but provided a suboptimal substrate for D. suzukii, which was only present in late summer. This study sheds light on the important role of unharvested fallen crop fruit in maintaining the diversity of an insect family that is generally overlooked in field studies. It also emphasises the importance of considering multiple scales and factors when studying the interactions between invasive species, native species and their shared trophic resources. Finally, our data highlight the importance of the Drosophilidae community in recycling agricultural waste.

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“…Given the critical role insects play in ecosystems, for example, as pollinators, decomposers and as a food source (Schowalter et al, 2018), it is imperative to understand how urbanisation impacts insect population and community dynamics. Although most studies have found declines in insect richness and abundance in response to urbanisation (Fenoglio et al, 2020; Piano et al, 2020; Vaz et al, 2023), wide variation has been reported, and certain species and clades appear to be able to exploit urban environments (e.g., Baldock et al, 2015; Chatelain et al, 2023; Raupp et al, 2010). For example, Theodorou et al (2020) found that Hymenoptera as a whole and particularly the Anthophila group of bees had higher richness within urban spaces compared with rural areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large uncertainty in trait responses across insects among overall declines in a subtropical city

Federico,

Guralnick,

Belitz

2024

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Continued and rapid development of urban environments presents many challenges to organisms living in and around cities. Insects are among the most abundant and diverse class of animals but surprisingly little is known about how most species respond to urbanisation across clades with varying life histories, especially in the subtropics and tropics. In this study, we sample insect abundance and diversity across an urbanisation gradient in a subtropical region to assess the impact of urbanisation on 43 phototactic species of insects representing eight distinct orders. We also attempted to determine which life history traits best explain how species respond to urbanisation. We predicted an overall loss of abundance and richness with increasing urbanisation, with smaller, generalist species being the least impacted. We also predicted that species with above ground larval habitats would be less affected by urbanisation. Overall, urban development decreased both species richness and the abundance of individuals per order, with abundance being most reduced for Hymenoptera but least reduced for Coleoptera. At a species‐specific level, urban development negatively impacted most but not all species, although uncertainty around these estimates was high. We did not identify key traits that determined a species' sensitivity to urbanisation. Our results showcase that urbanisation may impact ecosystem function given overall reduction in the number of individual insects per order, despite wide variability in species‐specific responses. Our study also emphasises the importance of species selection when designing studies that examine responses of multiple taxa across an environmental gradient.

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Global meta-analysis of urbanization stressors on insect abundance, richness, and traits

Cited by 7 publications

References 49 publications

Substantial urbanization‐driven declines of larval and adult moths in a subtropical environment

Substantial urbanization‐driven declines of larval and adult moths in a subtropical environment

Fallen fruit: A backup resource during winter shaping fruit fly communities

Large uncertainty in trait responses across insects among overall declines in a subtropical city

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