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Soares AO, Haelewaters D, Ameixa OMCC, Borges I, Brown PMJ, Cardoso P, de Groot MD, Evans EW, Grez AA, Hochkirch A, Holecová M, Honěk A, Kulfan J, Lillebø AI, Martinková Z, Michaud JP, Nedvěd O, Roy HE, Saxena S, Shandilya A, Sentis A, Skuhrovec J, Viglášová S, Zach P, Zaviezo T, Losey JE. A roadmap for ladybird conservation and recovery. Conserv Biol 2023; 37:e13965. [PMID: 35686511 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) provide services that are critical to food production, and they fulfill an ecological role as a food source for predators. The richness, abundance, and distribution of ladybirds, however, are compromised by many anthropogenic threats. Meanwhile, a lack of knowledge of the conservation status of most species and the factors driving their population dynamics hinders the development and implementation of conservation strategies for ladybirds. We conducted a review of the literature on the ecology, diversity, and conservation of ladybirds to identify their key ecological threats. Ladybird populations are most affected by climate factors, landscape composition, and biological invasions. We suggest mitigating actions for ladybird conservation and recovery. Short-term actions include citizen science programs and education, protective measures for habitat recovery and threatened species, prevention of the introduction of non-native species, and the maintenance and restoration of natural areas and landscape heterogeneity. Mid-term actions involve the analysis of data from monitoring programs and insect collections to disentangle the effect of different threats to ladybird populations, understand habitat use by taxa on which there is limited knowledge, and quantify temporal trends of abundance, diversity, and biomass along a management-intensity gradient. Long-term actions include the development of a worldwide monitoring program based on standardized sampling to fill data gaps, increase explanatory power, streamline analyses, and facilitate global collaborations.
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Affiliation(s)
- António O Soares
- Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes / Azorean Biodiversity Group (cE3c-ABG) / CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island (Azores), Portugal
- IUCN SSC, Ladybird Specialist Group
| | - Danny Haelewaters
- IUCN SSC, Ladybird Specialist Group
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Olga M C C Ameixa
- Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Isabel Borges
- Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes / Azorean Biodiversity Group (cE3c-ABG) / CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island (Azores), Portugal
| | - Peter M J Brown
- Applied Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Pedro Cardoso
- Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Finnish Museum of Natural History LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Michiel D de Groot
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Geraardsbergen, Belgium
| | - Edward W Evans
- Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
| | - Audrey A Grez
- Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Axel Hochkirch
- Department of Biogeography, Trier University, Trier, Germany
- IUCN SSC Invertebrate Conservation Committee, Trier, Germany
| | - Milada Holecová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Alois Honěk
- Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ján Kulfan
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Zvolen, Slovak Republic
| | - Ana I Lillebø
- Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | | | - J P Michaud
- Agricultural Research Center - Hays (ARCH), Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Hays, Kansas, USA
| | - Oldřich Nedvěd
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Helen E Roy
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, UK
| | - Swati Saxena
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India
| | - Apoorva Shandilya
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India
| | - Arnaud Sentis
- UMR RECOVER, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) & Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | | | - Sandra Viglášová
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Zvolen, Slovak Republic
| | - Peter Zach
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Zvolen, Slovak Republic
| | - Tania Zaviezo
- Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - John E Losey
- IUCN SSC, Ladybird Specialist Group
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
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de Groot MD, Haelewaters D. Double Infections of the Invasive Ladybird Harmonia axyridis. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.756972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The dramatic spread of invasive alien species over the past century is considered to be an important threat to ecosystems worldwide. The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, from eastern Asia, is considered to be one of the most invasive species. Originally introduced across the world as a biological control agent against crop pests owing to its voracious appetite and hardiness, those same qualities have made H. axyridis an invader that is difficult to eradicate. Harmonia axyridis has proven resilient against a variety of pathogens that have negative effects on other coccinellids. However, little research has examined the effects of simultaneous infections of multiple natural enemies on H. axyridis. Here we present the available information on such double infections on H. axyridis, and discuss further research directions in this area.
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de Groot MD, Dumolein I, Hiller T, Sándor AD, Szentiványi T, Schilthuizen M, Aime MC, Verbeken A, Haelewaters D. On the Fly: Tritrophic Associations of Bats, Bat Flies, and Fungi. J Fungi (Basel) 2020; 6:jof6040361. [PMID: 33322768 PMCID: PMC7770572 DOI: 10.3390/jof6040361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasitism is one of the most diverse and abundant modes of life, and of great ecological and evolutionary importance. Notwithstanding, large groups of parasites remain relatively understudied. One particularly unique form of parasitism is hyperparasitism, where a parasite is parasitized itself. Bats (Chiroptera) may be parasitized by bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea), obligate blood-sucking parasites, which in turn may be parasitized by hyperparasitic fungi, Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniomycetes). In this study, we present the global tritrophic associations among species within these groups and analyze their host specificity patterns. Bats, bat flies, and Laboulbeniales fungi are shown to form complex networks, and sixteen new associations are revealed. Bat flies are highly host-specific compared to Laboulbeniales. We discuss possible future avenues of study with regard to the dispersal of the fungi, abiotic factors influencing the parasite prevalence, and ecomorphology of the bat fly parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiel D. de Groot
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333CR Leiden, The Netherlands;
- Correspondence:
| | - Iris Dumolein
- Research Group Mycology, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (I.D.); (A.V.); (D.H.)
| | - Thomas Hiller
- Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 13, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Panama
| | - Attila D. Sándor
- Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Calea Mănăștur 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
- Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, István u. 2, 1078 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tamara Szentiványi
- Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, 1395 S. Knoles Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA;
| | - Menno Schilthuizen
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333CR Leiden, The Netherlands;
| | - M. Catherine Aime
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA;
| | - Annemieke Verbeken
- Research Group Mycology, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (I.D.); (A.V.); (D.H.)
| | - Danny Haelewaters
- Research Group Mycology, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (I.D.); (A.V.); (D.H.)
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Panama
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA;
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