No abstract

No abstract

Local biodiversity trends over time are likely to be decoupled from global trends, as local processes may compensate or counteract global change. We analyze 161 long-term biological time series (15-91 years) collected across Europe, using a comprehensive dataset comprising 6,200 marine, freshwater and terrestrial taxa. We test whether (i) local long-term biodiversity trends are consistent among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, and (ii) changes in biodiversity correlate with regional climate and local conditions. Our results reveal that local trends of abundance, richness and diversity differ among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, demonstrating that biodiversity changes at local scale are often complex and cannot be easily generalized. However, we find increases in richness and abundance with increasing temperature and naturalness as well as a clear spatial pattern in changes in community composition (i.e. temporal taxonomic turnover) in most biogeoregions of Northern and Eastern Europe.

Understanding how community assembly is controlled by the balance of abiotic drivers (environment or management) and biotic drivers (community composition of other groups) is important in predicting the response of ecosystems to environmental change. If there are strong links between plant assemblage structure and carabid beetle functional traits and functional diversity, then it is possible to predict the impact of environmental change propagating through different functional and trophic groups. Vegetation and pitfall trap beetle surveys were carried out across twenty four sites contrasting in land use, and hence productivity and disturbance regime. Plant functional traits were very successful at explaining the distribution of carabid functional traits across the habitats studied. Key carabid response traits appeared to be body length and wing type. Carabid functional richness was significantly smaller than expected, indicating strong environmental filtering, modulated by management, soil characteristics, and by plant response traits. Carabid functional divergence was negatively related to plant functional evenness, while carabid functional evenness was positively correlated to plant functional evenness and richness. The study shows that there are clear trait linkages between the plant and the carabid assemblage that act not only through the mean traits displayed, but also via their distribution in trait space; powerful evidence that both the mean and variance of traits in one trophic group structure the assemblage of another.

Abstract. 1. Freshwater ecosystems cover less than 1% of the planet's surface but support up to 10% of known species. Around 25% of freshwater invertebrate species are under threat of extinction. Such a decline in species richness is likely to lead to adverse effects on the delivery of services. However, the effect of species loss on ecosystem goods and services can only be assessed once the link between species diversity and ecosystem goods and services has been established and better understood.2. Using a flexible systematic literature review search protocol, we were able to identify a range of ecosystem goods and services provided by freshwater insects in the categories of provisioning, supporting, and cultural services.3. The ecosystem services and benefits provided by freshwater insects are diverse and unexpectedly wide-ranging including decomposition and nutrient cycling, food for a wider range of species including humans, and the inspiration for art, music, and literature. Several of these have clear economic values but are not currently fully exploited.4. The identification of goods and services may bring greater appreciation and impetus to understanding the scale of their importance, economic value, and conservation. In the absence of freshwater insects, few other service providers could replicate the same level and degree of service.