A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany
Invertebrate diversity has rapidly declined throughout Europe during the last century. Various reasons for this decrease have been proposed including human induced factors like climate change. Temperature changes alter distributions and occurrences of butterflies by determining habitat conditions at...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Science
2013-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Entomology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.eje.cz/artkey/eje-201304-0012_A_question_of_adaptability_Climate_and_habitat_change_lower_trait_diversity_in_butterfly_communities_in_south-.php |
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| author | Katharina J. FILZ Martin WIEMERS Anne HERRIG Matthias WEITZEL Thomas SCHMITT |
| author_facet | Katharina J. FILZ Martin WIEMERS Anne HERRIG Matthias WEITZEL Thomas SCHMITT |
| author_sort | Katharina J. FILZ |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Invertebrate diversity has rapidly declined throughout Europe during the last century. Various reasons for this decrease have been proposed including human induced factors like climate change. Temperature changes alter distributions and occurrences of butterflies by determining habitat conditions at different scales. We evaluated changes in the composition of butterfly communities recorded at nine areas of fallow ground in south-western Germany in 1973, 1986, 2010 and 2012 using Pollard's transect technique. To demonstrate the importance of climatic changes in affecting butterfly communities, we calculated the community temperature index (CTI) for each butterfly community in each year. Although they increased slightly, the CTI-values did not match the temperature trends recorded in the study region. However, the reduction in the standard deviations of the CTIs over time is reflected in the marked loss of cold- and warm-adapted species due to their inability to cope with temperature and land-use induced habitat changes. Results of our butterfly surveys indicate a marked decline in species richness and striking changes in the composition of the butterfly communities studied. This trend was most pronounced for habitat specialists, thus mirroring a depletion in trait diversity. Our results indicate that, in the course of large-scale anthropogenic changes, habitat degradation at smaller scales will continuously lead to the replacement of habitat specialists by ubiquitous species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:43:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8697c22f4f414c8284c589e9c694dbff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1210-5759 1802-8829 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:43:11Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Entomology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8697c22f4f414c8284c589e9c694dbff2022-12-21T21:29:51ZengInstitute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of ScienceEuropean Journal of Entomology1210-57591802-88292013-12-01110463364210.14411/eje.2013.086eje-201304-0012A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western GermanyKatharina J. FILZ0Martin WIEMERS1Anne HERRIG2Matthias WEITZEL3Thomas SCHMITT4Biogeography Department, Faculty of Geography/Geosciences, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, 54296 Trier, Germany; e-mails: kfilz@yahoo.de; s6anherr@uni-trier.de; thsh@uni-trier.deUFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120 Halle, Germany; e-mail: martin.wiemers@ufz.deBiogeography Department, Faculty of Geography/Geosciences, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, 54296 Trier, Germany; e-mails: kfilz@yahoo.de; s6anherr@uni-trier.de; thsh@uni-trier.deGraf-Reginar-Straße 43, 54294 Trier, Germany; e-mail: matthias-weitzel@web.deBiogeography Department, Faculty of Geography/Geosciences, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, 54296 Trier, Germany; e-mails: kfilz@yahoo.de; s6anherr@uni-trier.de; thsh@uni-trier.deInvertebrate diversity has rapidly declined throughout Europe during the last century. Various reasons for this decrease have been proposed including human induced factors like climate change. Temperature changes alter distributions and occurrences of butterflies by determining habitat conditions at different scales. We evaluated changes in the composition of butterfly communities recorded at nine areas of fallow ground in south-western Germany in 1973, 1986, 2010 and 2012 using Pollard's transect technique. To demonstrate the importance of climatic changes in affecting butterfly communities, we calculated the community temperature index (CTI) for each butterfly community in each year. Although they increased slightly, the CTI-values did not match the temperature trends recorded in the study region. However, the reduction in the standard deviations of the CTIs over time is reflected in the marked loss of cold- and warm-adapted species due to their inability to cope with temperature and land-use induced habitat changes. Results of our butterfly surveys indicate a marked decline in species richness and striking changes in the composition of the butterfly communities studied. This trend was most pronounced for habitat specialists, thus mirroring a depletion in trait diversity. Our results indicate that, in the course of large-scale anthropogenic changes, habitat degradation at smaller scales will continuously lead to the replacement of habitat specialists by ubiquitous species.https://www.eje.cz/artkey/eje-201304-0012_A_question_of_adaptability_Climate_and_habitat_change_lower_trait_diversity_in_butterfly_communities_in_south-.phplepidopteraspecies declinecommunity composition changehabitat specialisationfunctional groupscommunity temperature indexfallowssouth-western germany |
| spellingShingle | Katharina J. FILZ Martin WIEMERS Anne HERRIG Matthias WEITZEL Thomas SCHMITT A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany European Journal of Entomology lepidoptera species decline community composition change habitat specialisation functional groups community temperature index fallows south-western germany |
| title | A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany |
| title_full | A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany |
| title_fullStr | A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany |
| title_short | A question of adaptability: Climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south-western Germany |
| title_sort | question of adaptability climate and habitat change lower trait diversity in butterfly communities in south western germany |
| topic | lepidoptera species decline community composition change habitat specialisation functional groups community temperature index fallows south-western germany |
| url | https://www.eje.cz/artkey/eje-201304-0012_A_question_of_adaptability_Climate_and_habitat_change_lower_trait_diversity_in_butterfly_communities_in_south-.php |
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