Patterns of invertebrate functional diversity highlight the vulnerability of ecosystem services over a 45-year period

Greenop, Arran; Woodcock, Ben A.; Outhwaite, Charlotte L.; Carvell, Claire; Pywell, R. F.; Mancini, Francesca; Edwards, François; Johnson, Andrew C.; Isaac, Nick J. B.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.080

Cited by 28 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 85 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Through their provision of various ES (e.g., pollination and biological pest control), insects further sustain primary productivity of food, feed, and fiber crops and thereby generate broad societal benefits ( 7 , 8 ). A progressive loss in insect abundance and diversity, as recently recorded across the globe, may result in a weakening (or extinction) of ecological interactions and decaying ecosystem functions over broad spatial scales ( 38 , 39 ). Our study presents a data-rich body of evidence on the declining abundance of migratory insect species over nearly two decades in eastern Asia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term insect censuses capture progressive loss of ecosystem functioning in East Asia

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Insects provide critical ecosystem services such as biological pest control, in which natural enemies (NE) regulate the populations of crop-feeding herbivores (H). While H-NE dynamics are routinely studied at small spatiotemporal scales, multiyear assessments over entire agrolandscapes are rare. Here, we draw on 18-year radar and searchlight trapping datasets (2003–2020) from eastern Asia to (i) assess temporal population trends of 98 airborne insect species and (ii) characterize the associated H-NE interplay. Although NE consistently constrain interseasonal H population growth, their summer abundance declined by 19.3% over time and prominent agricultural pests abandoned their equilibrium state. Within food webs composed of 124 bitrophic couplets, NE abundance annually fell by 0.7% and network connectance dropped markedly. Our research unveils how a progressive decline in insect numbers debilitates H trophic regulation and ecosystem stability at a macroscale, carrying implications for food security and (agro)ecological resilience during times of global environmental change.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term insect censuses capture progressive loss of ecosystem functioning in East Asia

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conservation indicators of taxonomic groups often serve as a proxy for large scale functional ecological changes. However, changes in community composition do not necessarily correlate with changes in ecosystem functioning [25,26]. Thus, having a good understanding of the functional processes of an ecosystem is equally important as understanding compositional and structural attributes.…”

Section: Alignment Of Forest Biodiversity Indicators and Rs/edna Biod...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Harmonizing Forest Conservation Policies with Essential Biodiversity Variables Incorporating Remote Sensing and Environmental DNA Technologies

Lock

Duren

Skidmore

et al. 2022

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It remains difficult to compare the state of conservation of forests of different nations. Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) are a set of variables designed as a framework for harmonizing biodiversity monitoring. Methods to monitor forest biodiversity are traditional monitoring (according to conservation policy requirements), remote sensing, environmental DNA, and the information products that are derived from them (RS/eDNA biodiversity products). However, it is not clear to what extent indicators from conservation policies align with EBVs and RS/eDNA biodiversity products. This research evaluated current gaps in harmonization between EBVs, RS/eDNA biodiversity products and forest conservation indicators. We compared two sets of biodiversity variables: (1) forest conservation indicators and (2) RS/eDNA biodiversity products, within the context of the Essential Biodiversity Variables framework. Indicators derived from policy documents can mostly be categorized within the EBV ‘ecosystem vertical profile’, while ‘ecosystem function’ remains underrepresented. RS/eDNA biodiversity products, however, can provide information about ‘ecosystem function’. Integrating RS/eDNA biodiversity products that monitor ecosystem functioning into monitoring programs will lead to a more comprehensive and balanced reporting on forest biodiversity. In addition, using the same variables and similar RS/eDNA products for forest biodiversity and conservation policies is a requirement for harmonization and international policy reporting.

show abstract

“…Occupancy estimates can be combined with species' trait data to estimate patterns of functional diversity in space or time. Using this approach, Greenop et al (2021) assessed changes in pollination and pest control functions in Great Britain. This example demonstrates the potential of our workflow to inform on policy-relevant questions about ecosystem health, or to provide for other EBV categories (community composition, ecosystem functioning) (Pereira et al, 2013).…”

Section: Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

An operational workflow for producing periodic estimates of species occupancy at large scales

Boyd¹,

August²,

Cooke³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Policy makers require high-level summaries of biodiversity change. However, deriving such summaries from raw biodiversity data is a complex process involving several intermediary stages. In this paper, we describe a workflow for generating annual estimates of species’ occupancy at national scales from raw species occurrence data, which can be used to construct a range of policy-relevant biodiversity indicators. We describe the workflow in detail: from data acquisition, data assessment and data manipulation, through modelling, model evaluation, application and dissemination. At each stage, we draw on our experience developing and applying the workflow for almost a decade to outline the challenges that analysts might face. These challenges span many areas of ecology, taxonomy, data science, computing and statistics. In our case, a key output of the workflow is annual estimates of occupancy, with measures of uncertainty, for over 5,000 species in each of several defined “regions” (e.g., countries, protected areas, etc.) of the United Kingdom from 1970-2019. This product corresponds closely to the notion of a species distribution “Essential Biodiversity Variable” (EBV). Throughout the paper, we note where the workflow can be adapted to other situations (e.g., geographic regions or data types). We also highlight areas where the workflow can be improved; in particular, we suggest incorporation of methods to diagnose biases in the species occurrence data, to understand whether and to what extent these bias downstream products, and to mitigate them if needed. Finally, we compare the data products generated using our workflow to the first generation of species distribution EBVs and the “idealized” product as defined by others. Going forward, we hope that this paper can act as a template for research groups around the world seeking to develop similar data products.

show abstract

Patterns of invertebrate functional diversity highlight the vulnerability of ecosystem services over a 45-year period

Cited by 28 publications

References 85 publications

Long-term insect censuses capture progressive loss of ecosystem functioning in East Asia

Long-term insect censuses capture progressive loss of ecosystem functioning in East Asia

Harmonizing Forest Conservation Policies with Essential Biodiversity Variables Incorporating Remote Sensing and Environmental DNA Technologies

An operational workflow for producing periodic estimates of species occupancy at large scales

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About