Harrison Gray Dyar

Our understanding of broad-scale biodiversity and functional trait patterns is largely based on plants, and relatively little information is available on soil arthropods. Here, we investigated the distribution of termite diversity globally and morphological traits and diversity across China. Our analyses showed increasing termite species richness with decreasing latitude at both the globally, and within-China. Additionally, we detected obvious latitudinal trends in the mean community value of termite morphological traits on average, with body size and leg length decreasing with increasing latitude. Furthermore, temperature, NDVI and water variables were the most important drivers controlling the variation in termite richness, and temperature and soil properties were key drivers of the geographic distribution of termite morphological traits. Our global termite richness map is one of the first high resolution maps for any arthropod group and especially given the functional importance of termites, our work provides a useful baseline for further ecological analysis.

Abstract The Mexican lepidopteran fauna is particularly diverse, but many moth groups remain poorly documented. The tribe Arctiini is a species-rich group that has been used as a reliable indicator of environmental change. However, little is known about the fauna of the tribe Arctiini in Mexico, and there is no exhaustive review of its diversity and distribution patterns. Our aims were: 1) to account for the species diversity and distribution patterns of the tribe Arctiini; 2) to build spatial distributions and discuss possible changes in the distribution areas of the tribe Arctiini using conservative (RCP 2.6) and liberal (RCP 8.5) future climate scenarios; and 3) to discuss the conservation implications for key taxa that due to their life history characteristics and restricted distribution, might require particular conservation actions. We compiled a total of 16,385 records and 548 species in seven subtribes. Diversity profiles revealed higher cumulative species richness and diversity for the subtribes Phaegopterina, Ctenuchina, and Euchromiina, and we identified a pattern of decreasing species diversity with elevation. In addition, we estimated that 35% and 84% of modeled species in future conservative and liberal climatic scenarios, respectively, would result in significant losses of climatic suitability and shifts in spatial distribution. The endemic species, Virbia semirosea, Poliopastea jalapensis, and Pygoctenucha azteca would likely reduce their distribution by approximately 50% in both climatic scenarios. Maintaining a network of highly threatened habitats (e.g., cloud forests, tropical rain forests) will be essential to preserve persisting species populations and to increase likely (re)colonization events.

1. Historical museum records provide potentially useful data for identifying drivers of change in species occupancy. However, because museum records are typically obtained via many collection methods, methodological developments are needed in order to enable robust inferences. Occupancy‐detection models, a relatively new and powerful suite of statistical methods, are a potentially promising avenue because they can account for changes in collection effort through space and time.

Insect phenological lability is key for determining which species will adapt under environmental change. However, little is known about when adult insect activity terminates and overall activity duration. We used community‐science and museum specimen data to investigate the effects of climate and urbanisation on timing of adult insect activity for 101 species varying in life history traits. We found detritivores and species with aquatic larval stages extend activity periods most rapidly in response to increasing regional temperature. Conversely, species with subterranean larval stages have relatively constant durations regardless of regional temperature. Species extended their period of adult activity similarly in warmer conditions regardless of voltinism classification. Longer adult durations may represent a general response to warming, but voltinism data in subtropical environments are likely underreported. This effort provides a framework to address the drivers of adult insect phenology at continental scales and a basis for predicting species response to environmental change.

The ongoing contemporary biodiversity crisis may result in much of ocean’s biodiversity to be lost or deeply modified without even being known. As the climate and anthropogenic-related impacts on marine systems accelerate, biodiversity knowledge integration is urgently required to evaluate and monit…

Climate change will cause drastic fluctuations in agricultural ecosystems, which in turn may affect global food security. We used ecological niche modeling to predict the potential distribution for four cereal aphids (i.e., Sitobion avenae, Rhopalosiphum padi, Schizaphis graminum, and Diurphis noxia…

As hybrid zones exhibit selective patterns of gene flow between otherwise distinct lineages, they can be especially valuable for informing processes of microevolution and speciation. The bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, displays two distinct color forms generated by Müllerian mimicry: a northern “Roc…

Arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses) are expanding their geographic range, posing significant health threats to millions of people worldwide. This expansion is associated with efficient and suitable vector availability. Apart from the well-known Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, other Aedes species…

Aim: Recent studies have found that local-scale plots measured through time exhibit marked variation in the change in species richness. However, the overall effect often reveals no net change. Most studies to date have been agnostic about the identities of the species lost/gained and about the proce…

Critical gaps in understanding how species respond to environmental change limit our capacity to address conservation risks in a timely way. Here, we examine the direct and interactive effects of key global change drivers, including climate change, land use change, and pesticide use, on persistence …