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Reif J, Gamero A, Hološková A, Aunins A, Chodkiewicz T, Hristov I, Kurlavičius P, Leivits M, Szép T, Voříšek P. Accelerated farmland bird population declines in European countries after their recent EU accession. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 946:174281. [PMID: 38936735 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 06/20/2024] [Accepted: 06/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. In Europe, intensification progressed over the 20th century and was accelerated by instruments of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries standing outside the EU until the beginning of the 21st century employed less intensive farming and are considered one of the continent's farmland biodiversity strongholds. Their recent EU accession might be either viewed as a threat to farmland biodiversity due to the availability of funds to increase agricultural production or as an opportunity to implement conservation measures aimed to preserve biodiversity. Here we assessed these possibilities using long-term monitoring data on farmland bird populations in seven CEE countries. We tested whether mean relative abundance and population trends changed after countries' EU accession, and whether such changes also occurred in agricultural management and conservation measures. Both agricultural intensity and spending for agri-environmental and climatic schemes increased when the CEE countries joined the EU. At the same time, farmland bird populations started to decline and their relative abundance was lower after than before EU accession. In addition, increases in fertilizer application were negatively associated with annual changes in relative farmland bird population sizes, indicating a negative impact of intensive agriculture. Taken together, these results indicate that despite the great power of the EU's environmental legislation to improve the population status of species at risk, this does not apply to farmland birds. In their case, the adverse impacts of agricultural intensification most likely overrode the possible benefits of conservation measures. To secure this region as one of the continent's farmland biodiversity strongholds, policy and management actions are urgently needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Reif
- Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czechia.
| | - Anna Gamero
- Czech Society for Ornithology/Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme, Prague, Czechia
| | - Adriana Hološková
- Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Ainars Aunins
- Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Latvia, Jelgavas iela 1, Riga LV-1004, Latvia; Latvian Ornithological Society, Skolas iela 3, Riga LV-1010, Latvia
| | - Tomasz Chodkiewicz
- Museum & Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland; Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP), Marki, Poland
| | - Iordan Hristov
- Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds/BirdLife Bulgaria, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Petras Kurlavičius
- Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania; Lithuanian Ornithological Society (LOD), Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Meelis Leivits
- Estonian Environment Agency, Nigula Nature Centre, 86107 Reinu village, Estonia
| | - Tibor Szép
- University of Nyíregyháza, Nyíregyháza, Hungary
| | - Petr Voříšek
- Czech Society for Ornithology/European Bird Census Council, Prague, Czechia
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Popović M, Nowicki P. Movements of a Specialist Butterfly in Relation to Mowing Management of Its Habitat Patches. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12030344. [PMID: 36979036 PMCID: PMC10045459 DOI: 10.3390/biology12030344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
Over the centuries, mowing and grazing have been crucial for sustaining populations of grassland insects and their overall diversity in Europe. While long-term positive effects of mowing have been studied in more detail, little is known about the direct impacts of mowing on adult butterflies. Here, we explore how different habitat management (mown, recovered after mowing and unmown) affects movements and population estimates of the endangered specialist butterfly Phengaris teleius. The results showed higher dispersal probability from mown (22%) and recovered meadows (16%) than from the unmown ones (9%). However, mowing shortened the average dispersal distances (mown = 102 m, recovered = 198 m, unmown = 246 m) and reduced butterfly population size. In contrast, a larger area of the habitat patches promoted long-distance dispersal and sustained larger populations. We hypothesise that mowing caused depletion of resources and triggered dispersal of poorly adapted individuals. This behaviour is maladaptive and could lead to higher dispersal-related mortality; thus, mowing should be avoided before and during the butterfly flight period. This study suggests that the species’ persistence in a fragmented landscape depends on large, unmown and interconnected habitats that support more viable populations, promote long-distance dispersal, and enable (re)colonisation of vacant patches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miloš Popović
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš, Višegradska 33, 18000 Niš, Serbia
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
- Correspondence:
| | - Piotr Nowicki
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
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Kasiske T, Dauber J, Harpke A, Klimek S, Kühn E, Settele J, Musche M. Livestock density affects species richness and community composition of butterflies: A nationwide study. ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS 2023; 146:109866. [PMID: 36777177 PMCID: PMC9904221 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Extensively managed grasslands are globally recognized for their high biodiversity value. Over the past century, a continuous loss and degradation of grassland habitats has been observed across Europe that is mainly attributable to agricultural intensification and land abandonment. Particularly insects have suffered from the loss of grassland habitats due to land-use change and the decrease in habitat quality, either due to an increase in livestock density, higher mowing frequency, and an increase in nitrogen fertilization, or by abandonment. However, only a few studies have used nationwide datasets to analyse the effects of land cover and land-use intensity on insects. It further remains largely unexplored how these effects are modulated by species traits, i.e. habitat specialisation and mobility. Using nationwide butterfly data originating from the German Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, we investigated the effect of three indicators related to land cover and agricultural land-use intensity on species richness as well as trait composition of butterfly communities. Based on agricultural census data at the municipality scale, we calculated the share of permanent grasslands (measure of habitat availability), the total livestock density (proxy for organic fertilization) and the livestock density of domestic herbivores (proxy for management intensity in grasslands) within a 2 km buffer surrounding each butterfly transect. To analyse the relationships between butterflies and indicators of land cover and land-use intensity, we applied generalised linear mixed effect models. We found a negative relationship between butterfly species richness and the livestock density of domestic herbivores. Further, the ratio of butterfly generalist to specialist species shifted towards generalists and the size of butterflies increased with higher herbivore livestock density, indicating a shift in communities towards mobile habitat generalists. Our results are in accordance with previous studies carried out across smaller geographic extents, highlighting the importance of low herbivore livestock densities to halt the loss of pollinating insects and safeguard biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. We here demonstrate that indicators based on livestock distribution data at the municipality scale can provide insights into processes and spatial diversity patterns of butterflies at the national level. Further, we highlight potentials and limitations of using agricultural census data to quantify and assess effects of land cover and land-use intensity on butterflies, and make recommendations for further research needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toni Kasiske
- Thünen-Institute of Biodiversity, Braunschweig, Germany
- Biodiversity of Agricultural Landscapes, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Jens Dauber
- Thünen-Institute of Biodiversity, Braunschweig, Germany
- Biodiversity of Agricultural Landscapes, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Alexander Harpke
- Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle, Germany
- Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle, Germany
| | | | - Elisabeth Kühn
- Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle, Germany
| | - Josef Settele
- Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle, Germany
- iDiv - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
| | - Martin Musche
- Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle, Germany
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Neff F, Korner-Nievergelt F, Rey E, Albrecht M, Bollmann K, Cahenzli F, Chittaro Y, Gossner MM, Martínez-Núñez C, Meier ES, Monnerat C, Moretti M, Roth T, Herzog F, Knop E. Different roles of concurring climate and regional land-use changes in past 40 years' insect trends. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7611. [PMID: 36509742 PMCID: PMC9744861 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35223-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate and land-use changes are main drivers of insect declines, but their combined effects have not yet been quantified over large spatiotemporal scales. We analysed changes in the distribution (mean occupancy of squares) of 390 insect species (butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies), using 1.45 million records from across bioclimatic gradients of Switzerland between 1980 and 2020. We found no overall decline, but strong increases and decreases in the distributions of different species. For species that showed strongest increases (25% quantile), the average proportion of occupied squares increased in 40 years by 0.128 (95% credible interval: 0.123-0.132), which equals an average increase in mean occupancy of 71.3% (95% CI: 67.4-75.1%) relative to their 40-year mean occupancy. For species that showed strongest declines (25% quantile), the average proportion decreased by 0.0660 (95% CI: 0.0613-0.0709), equalling an average decrease in mean occupancy of 58.3% (95% CI: 52.2-64.4%). Decreases were strongest for narrow-ranged, specialised, and cold-adapted species. Short-term distribution changes were associated to both climate changes and regional land-use changes. Moreover, interactive effects between climate and regional land-use changes confirm that the various drivers of global change can have even greater impacts on biodiversity in combination than alone. In contrast, 40-year distribution changes were not clearly related to regional land-use changes, potentially reflecting mixed changes in local land use after 1980. Climate warming however was strongly linked to 40-year changes, indicating its key role in driving insect trends of temperate regions in recent decades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Neff
- Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | | | - Emmanuel Rey
- info fauna, Avenue de Bellevaux 51, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Albrecht
- Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Kurt Bollmann
- Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Fabian Cahenzli
- Department of Crop Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Ackerstrasse 113, 5070, Frick, Switzerland
| | - Yannick Chittaro
- info fauna, Avenue de Bellevaux 51, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Martin M Gossner
- Forest Entomology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Carlos Martínez-Núñez
- Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Eliane S Meier
- Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Marco Moretti
- Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Roth
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051, Basel, Switzerland
- Hintermann & Weber AG, Austrasse 2a, 4153, Reinach, Switzerland
| | - Felix Herzog
- Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Eva Knop
- Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
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Habel JC, Schmitt T, Gros P, Ulrich W. Breakpoints in butterfly decline in Central Europe over the last century. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 851:158315. [PMID: 36030878 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies indicated severe decline of insect diversity and abundance across major parts of Central Europe. Theoretical studies showed that the drivers behind biodiversity loss vary considerably over time. However, these scenarios so far have been insufficiently approved by long-term and large-scale data. In this study we analysed the temporal trends of butterflies and Zygaenid moths across the federal state of Salzburg, northern Austria, from 1920 to 2019. Our study area covers a large variety of habitats and altitudes. Various changes of land use and intensification occurred during and shortly before our studied period, with a first wave of habitat destruction starting in the late 19th century, followed by the deterioration of habitat quality since the mid-20th century. We used 59,870 presence-only data of 168 butterfly and burnet moth species. Each of these species was classified according to ecological characteristics. Break point analyses for non-linear temporal trends in the community composition returned two major time windows. These time windows coincide with periods characterized by severe habitat destruction and the deterioration of habitat quality due to agricultural intensification. We found significant reductions of the proportion of species requiring specific habitats since 1920 and until today. We identified additional break points for species requiring high habitat qualities, endangered butterfly species, and sedentary species, particularly after a main break point in the 1960s. Our findings underline that, apart from habitat destruction, the deterioration of habitat quality is a main driver of biodiversity loss in general. Therefore, nature conservation should focus on maintaining the highest possible habitat quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Christian Habel
- Evolutionary Zoology, Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, D-15374 Müncheberg, Germany; Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences I, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06099 Halle (Saale), Germany; Entomology and Biogeography, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Patrick Gros
- Haus der Natur museum, Museumsplatz 5, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Werner Ulrich
- Department of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
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Kozlov MV. Population dynamics of herbivorous insects in polluted landscapes. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 54:100987. [PMID: 36307065 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Revised: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Environmental pollution is one cause of insect decline in the Anthropocene, but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure due to a paucity of pollution-impact studies on insects that address density-dependent processes. Long data series (19-26 years) are available only for a few species monitored around two industrial polluters in north-western Russia. A particularly exciting current finding is that industrial pollution determines the relative strength of rapid (stabilising) and delayed (destabilising) density dependence operating on a herbivore population. Most studies address acute effects of traditional pollutants (e.g. sulphur dioxide and trace elements) and nitrogen deposition on agricultural pests, whereas the effects of realistic concentrations of ozone, particulate matter and emerging pollutants on insects feeding on noncultivated plants are unknown. The accumulated evidence remains insufficient to predict the effects of pollutants of global concern on the population dynamics of herbivorous insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail V Kozlov
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
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