Dataset Information

The data of the Swedish Malaise Trap Project, a countrywide inventory of Sweden's insect fauna.

ABSTRACT: Background:Despite Sweden's strong entomological tradition, large portions of its insect fauna remain poorly known. As part of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative, launched in 2002 to document all multi-cellular species occurring in the country, the first taxonomically-broad inventory of the country's insect fauna was initiated, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project (SMTP). In total, 73 Malaise traps were deployed at 55 localities representing a wide range of habitats across the country. Most traps were run continuously from 2003 to 2006 or for a substantial part of that time period. The total catch is estimated to contain 20 million insects, distributed over 1,919 samples (Karlsson et al. 2020). The samples have been sorted into more than 300 taxonomic units, which are made available for expert identification. Thus far, more than 100 taxonomists have been involved in identifying the sorted material, recording the presence of 4,000 species. One third of these had not been recorded from Sweden before and 700 have tentatively been identified as new to science. New information:Here, we describe the SMTP dataset, published through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Data on the sorted material are available in the "SMTP Collection Inventory" dataset. It currently includes more than 130,000 records of taxonomically-sorted samples. Data on the identified material are published using the Darwin Core standard for sample-based data. That information is divided up into group-specific datasets, as the sample set processed for each group is different and in most cases non-overlapping. The current data are divided into 79 taxonomic datasets, largely corresponding to taxonomic sorting fractions. The orders Diptera and Hymenoptera together comprise about 90% of the specimens in the material and these orders are mainly sorted to family or subfamily. The remaining insect taxa are mostly sorted to the order level. In total, the 79 datasets currently available comprise around 165,000 specimens, that is, about 1% of the total catch. However, the data are now accumulating rapidly and will be published continuously. The SMTP dataset is unique in that it contains a large proportion of data on previously poorly-known taxa in the Diptera and Hymenoptera.

SUBMITTER: Karlsson D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7599202 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The data of the Swedish Malaise Trap Project, a countrywide inventory of Sweden's insect fauna.

Karlsson Dave D Forshage Mattias M Holston Kevin K Ronquist Fredrik F

Biodiversity data journal 20201023

<h4>Background</h4>Despite Sweden's strong entomological tradition, large portions of its insect fauna remain poorly known. As part of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative, launched in 2002 to document all multi-cellular species occurring in the country, the first taxonomically-broad inventory of the country's insect fauna was initiated, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project (SMTP). In total, 73 Malaise traps were deployed at 55 localities representing a wide range of habitats across the country. Most tra ...[more]

PMID: 33177946

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Project description:Despite more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we still have only a vague idea about the true size and composition of the faunas and floras of the planet. Many biodiversity inventories provide limited insight because they focus on a small taxonomic subsample or a tiny geographic area. Here, we report on the size and composition of the Swedish insect fauna, thought to represent roughly half of the diversity of multicellular life in one of the largest European countries. Our results are based on more than a decade of data from the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative and its massive inventory of the country's insect fauna, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project The fauna is considered one of the best known in the world, but the initiative has nevertheless revealed a surprising amount of hidden diversity: more than 3,000 new species (301 new to science) have been documented so far. Here, we use three independent methods to analyze the true size and composition of the fauna at the family or subfamily level: (1) assessments by experts who have been working on the most poorly known groups in the fauna; (2) estimates based on the proportion of new species discovered in the Malaise trap inventory; and (3) extrapolations based on species abundance and incidence data from the inventory. For the last method, we develop a new estimator, the combined non-parametric estimator, which we show is less sensitive to poor coverage of the species pool than other popular estimators. The three methods converge on similar estimates of the size and composition of the fauna, suggesting that it comprises around 33,000 species. Of those, 8,600 (26%) were unknown at the start of the inventory and 5,000 (15%) still await discovery. We analyze the taxonomic and ecological composition of the estimated fauna, and show that most of the new species belong to Hymenoptera and Diptera groups that are decomposers or parasitoids. Thus, current knowledge of the Swedish insect fauna is strongly biased taxonomically and ecologically, and we show that similar but even stronger biases have distorted our understanding of the fauna in the past. We analyze latitudinal gradients in the size and composition of known European insect faunas and show that several of the patterns contradict the Swedish data, presumably due to similar knowledge biases. Addressing these biases is critical in understanding insect biomes and the ecosystem services they provide. Our results emphasize the need to broaden the taxonomic scope of current insect monitoring efforts, a task that is all the more urgent as recent studies indicate a possible worldwide decline in insect faunas.

Project description:BackgroundSmall and rare specimens can remain undetected when metabarcoding is applied on bulk samples with a high specimen size heterogeneity. This is especially critical for Malaise trap samples, where most of the biodiversity is contributed by small taxa with low biomass. The separation of samples in different size fractions for downstream analysis is one possibility to increase detection of small and rare taxa. However, experiments systematically testing different size sorting approaches and subsequent proportional pooling of fractions are lacking, but would provide important information for the optimization of metabarcoding protocols. We set out to find a size sorting strategy for Malaise trap samples that maximizes taxonomic recovery but remains scalable and time efficient.MethodsThree Malaise trap samples were sorted into four size classes using dry sieving. Each fraction was homogenized and lysed. The corresponding lysates were pooled to simulate unsorted samples. Pooling was additionally conducted in equal proportions and in four different proportions enriching the small size fraction of samples. DNA from the individual size classes as well as the pooled fractions was extracted and metabarcoded using the FwhF2 and Fol-degen-rev primer set. Additionally, alternative wet sieving strategies were explored.ResultsThe small size fractions harboured the highest diversity and were best represented when pooling in favour of small specimens. Metabarcoding of unsorted samples decreases taxon recovery compared to size sorted samples. A size separation into only two fractions (below 4 mm and above) can double taxon recovery compared to not size sorting. However, increasing the sequencing depth 3- to 4-fold can also increase taxon recovery to levels comparable with size sorting, but remains biased towards biomass rich taxa in the sample.ConclusionWe demonstrate that size fractionation of Malaise trap bulk samples can increase taxon recovery. While results show distinct patterns, the lack of statistical support due to the limited number of samples processed is a limitation. Due to increased speed and lower risk of cross-contamination as well as specimen damage we recommend wet sieving and proportional pooling of the lysates in favour of the small size fraction (80-90% volume). However, for large-scale projects with time constraints, increasing sequencing depth is an alternative solution.

Project description:Background: Studies investigating the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and mental health have suggested both positive and negative associations, highlighting the importance of multifaceted assessment of these rather broad constructs. The present study aims at contributing to this field of research by providing a validated Swedish version of the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being (MI-RSWB-S) and further examining how this instrument relates to Big Five personality factors, Sense of Coherence (SOC), and religiosity. Methods: Data were collected from a total of 1,011 Swedish students (747 females; age range 18-40) via completion of an online survey, including a new Swedish Version of the MI-RSWB-S, the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13), and the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS-5). Results: Results revealed adequate estimates of internal consistency and substantial evidence for the postulated six-dimensional structure. However, confirmatory factor analysis yielded poor fit indices, resulting in the development and validation of a revised measure of Religious/Spiritual Well-Being (RSWB), comprising the subscales General Religiosity and Connectedness. Most of the MI-RSWB-S dimensions were positively correlated with the personality domains Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness and negatively related to Neuroticism. SOC was positively linked to Hope Immanent, Forgiveness, Hope Transcendent, and Experiences of Sense of Meaning, whereas CRS exhibited positive correlations with all MI-RSWB-S subscales except Hope Transcendent. Conclusion: The findings of the current study support the validity and reliability of the Swedish adoption of the MI-RSWB and confirm previously reported associations with the Big Five personality traits, SOC, and CRS. More in general, our results underline the putative substantial link between RSWB dimensions and mental health. Further research especially in clinical surroundings as well as by employing more representative samples is now warranted.

Dataset Information

The data of the Swedish Malaise Trap Project, a countrywide inventory of Sweden's insect fauna.

Publications

The data of the Swedish Malaise Trap Project, a countrywide inventory of Sweden's insect fauna.

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