Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1038/s41586-023-06861-4
Lizenz creative commons licence
Titel (primär) Disproportionate declines of formerly abundant species underlie insect loss
Autor van Klink, R.; Bowler, D.E.; Gongalsky, K.B.; Shen, M.; Swengel, S.R.
Quelle Nature
Erscheinungsjahr 2024
Department iDiv; BioP
Band/Volume 628
Heft 8007
Seite von 359
Seite bis 364
Sprache englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Daten-/Softwarelinks https://doi.org/10.5063/F1ZC817H
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10115304
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41586-023-06861-4/MediaObjects/41586_2023_6861_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41586-023-06861-4/MediaObjects/41586_2023_6861_MOESM3_ESM.pdf
Abstract Studies have reported widespread declines in terrestrial insect abundances in recent years, but trends in other biodiversity metrics are less clear-cut. Here we examined long-term trends in 923 terrestrial insect assemblages monitored in 106 studies, and found concomitant declines in abundance and species richness. For studies that were resolved to species level (551 sites in 57 studies), we observed a decline in the number of initially abundant species through time, but not in the number of very rare species. At the population level, we found that species that were most abundant at the start of the time series showed the strongest average declines (corrected for regression-to-the-mean effects). Rarer species were, on average, also declining, but these were offset by increases of other species. Our results suggest that the observed decreases in total insect abundance can mostly be explained by widespread declines of formerly abundant species. This counters the common narrative that biodiversity loss is mostly characterized by declines of rare species. Although our results suggest that fundamental changes are occurring in insect assemblages, it is important to recognize that they represent only trends from those locations for which sufficient long-term data are available. Nevertheless, given the importance of abundant species in ecosystems, their general declines are likely to have broad repercussions for food webs and ecosystem functioning.
dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=28622
van Klink, R., Bowler, D.E., Gongalsky, K.B., Shen, M., Swengel, S.R. (2024):
Disproportionate declines of formerly abundant species underlie insect loss
Nature 628 (8007), 359 - 364 10.1038/s41586-023-06861-4