Dataset Information

Long-term large-scale decline in relative abundances of butterfly and burnet moth species across south-western Germany.

ABSTRACT: Current studies have shown a severe general decline in insect species diversity, their abundance, and a biomass reduction of flying insects. Most of previous studies have been performed at single sites, or were spatially restricted at the landscape level. In this study, we analyse trends of species richness and shifts in species composition of butterflies and burnet moth species across the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany, covering an area of 35,750 km². The data set consists of 233,474 records and covers a period from 1750 until today. We grouped species according to their species´ specific functional traits and analyse how species with different habitat requirements and behaviour respond to land-use changes over time. Our data document a significant loss of relative abundance for most species, especially since the 1950s until today. Species demanding specific habitat requirements are more seriously suffering under this trend than generalists. This in particular affects taxa adapted to extensively used xerothermic grasslands, bogs or other habitats maintained by traditional low-productivity agricultural practices of the past. Our data indicate large-scale decline in relative abundance of many butterfly and burnet moth species, which happened in particular during the past few decades.

SUBMITTER: Habel JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6797710 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Long-term large-scale decline in relative abundances of butterfly and burnet moth species across south-western Germany.

Habel Jan Christian JC Trusch Robert R Schmitt Thomas T Ochse Michael M Ulrich Werner W

Scientific reports 20191017 1

Current studies have shown a severe general decline in insect species diversity, their abundance, and a biomass reduction of flying insects. Most of previous studies have been performed at single sites, or were spatially restricted at the landscape level. In this study, we analyse trends of species richness and shifts in species composition of butterflies and burnet moth species across the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany, covering an area of 35,750 km<sup>2</sup>. The ...[more]

PMID: 31624369

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Project description:BackgroundDue to legal regulations in Germany, public acute and emergency (A&E) hospitals-along with responsible authorities, emergency medical services, and other institutions such as the state medical associations-are committed to participate in civil protection. This participation includes the need to create and update emergency plans for external and internal crises and to take part in disaster drills. In fact, so far there is only little literature to prove whether and to what extent hospitals fulfill their obligations on this topic.ObjectivesUsing a standardized survey, the state of emergency planning in hospitals in Baden-Wuerttemberg was evaluated.Materials and methodsBased on a listing provided by the Hospital Society of Baden-Wuerttemberg (BWKG), all 214 hospitals in Baden-Wuerttemberg were identified. The standardized questionnaire inquired about specific characteristics of the emergency plan, the availability and knowledge of this plan by the hospital workforce and other local institutions that take part in civil protection and, finally, participation in disaster drills were queried.ResultsOf the 214 hospitals in Baden-Wuerttemberg, 135 (63%) provided information using the questionnaire. Except for one hospital, all other clinics indicated having a special emergency plan ready. In most cases (79.3%), both external (e.g., mass casualty incidents) and internal (e.g., fire, failure of technical equipment) crises are covered. In the vast majority of cases (94%), the hospitals also indicated that they regularly update their emergency plan, whereby the frequency of updates varied markedly. Three quarters of the hospitals said that they also regularly simulate the use of the emergency plan in disaster drills. In two thirds of the cases, external forces such as emergency medical services or the fire department also take part in these drills along with the hospitals themselves. In some cases, knowledge gained from the drills was incorporated into the emergency plan or led to improvements in staff training.ConclusionsThe willingness of public hospitals to establish comprehensive disaster planning and to take part in related drills seems to have improved noticeably in recent years. However, there is still the need for improvement in keeping the concepts up to date at some hospitals. Especially smaller hospitals showed deficits in emergency planning, particularly concerning preparedness for internal crises, resulting from failure of technical equipment. More regular drills should be used to test existing concepts and to familiarize employees with the processes on a routine basis.

Project description:Thin, hair-like lichens (Alectoria, Bryoria, Usnea) form conspicuous epiphyte communities across the boreal biome. These poikilohydric organisms provide important ecosystem functions and are useful indicators of global change. We analyse how environmental drivers influence changes in occurrence and length of these lichens on Norway spruce (Picea abies) over 10 years in managed forests in Sweden using data from >6000 trees. Alectoria and Usnea showed strong declines in southern-central regions, whereas Bryoria declined in northern regions. Overall, relative loss rates across the country ranged from 1.7% per year in Alectoria to 0.5% in Bryoria. These losses contrasted with increased length of Bryoria and Usnea in some regions. Occurrence trajectories (extinction, colonization, presence, absence) on remeasured trees correlated best with temperature, rain, nitrogen deposition, and stand age in multinomial logistic regression models. Our analysis strongly suggests that industrial forestry, in combination with nitrogen, is the main driver of lichen declines. Logging of forests with long continuity of tree cover, short rotation cycles, substrate limitation and low light in dense forests are harmful for lichens. Nitrogen deposition has decreased but is apparently still sufficiently high to prevent recovery. Warming correlated with occurrence trajectories of Alectoria and Bryoria, likely by altering hydration regimes and increasing respiration during autumn/winter. The large-scale lichen decline on an important host has cascading effects on biodiversity and function of boreal forest canopies. Forest management must apply a broad spectrum of methods, including uneven-aged continuous cover forestry and retention of large patches, to secure the ecosystem functions of these important canopy components under future climates. Our findings highlight interactions among drivers of lichen decline (forestry, nitrogen, climate), functional traits (dispersal, lichen colour, sensitivity to nitrogen, water storage), and population processes (extinction/colonization).

Project description:Understanding factors influencing patterns of genetic diversity and the population genetic structure of species is of particular importance in the current era of global climate change and habitat loss. These factors include the evolutionary history of a species as well as heterogeneity in the environment it occupies, which in turn can change across time. Most studies investigating spatio-temporal genetic patterns have focused on patterns across wide geographic areas rather than local variation, but the latter can nevertheless be important particularly in topographically complex areas. Here, we consider these issues in the Sooty Copper butterfly (Lycaena tityrus) from the European Alps, using genome-wide SNPs identified through RADseq. We found strong genetic differentiation within the Alps with four genetic clusters, indicating western, central, and eastern refuges, and a strong reduction of genetic diversity from west to east. This reduction in diversity may suggest that the southwestern refuge was the largest one in comparison to other refuges. Also, the high genetic diversity in the west may result from (a) admixture of different western refuges, (b) more recent demographic changes, or (c) introgression of lowland L. tityrus populations. At small spatial scales, populations were structured by several landscape features and especially by high mountain ridges and large river valleys. We detected 36 outlier loci likely under altitudinal selection, including several loci related to membranes and cellular processes. We suggest that efforts to preserve alpine L. tityrus should focus on the genetically diverse populations in the western Alps, and that the dolomite populations should be treated as genetically distinct management units, since they appear to be currently more threatened than others. This study demonstrates the usefulness of SNP-based approaches for understanding patterns of genetic diversity, gene flow, and selection in a region that is expected to be particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Dataset Information

Long-term large-scale decline in relative abundances of butterfly and burnet moth species across south-western Germany.

Publications

Long-term large-scale decline in relative abundances of butterfly and burnet moth species across south-western Germany.

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