Changes in Community Composition and Functional Traits of Bumblebees in an Alpine Ecosystem Relate to Climate Warming

Scharnhorst, Victor Sebastian; Thierolf, Katharina; Neumayer, Johann; Becsi, Benedikt; Formayer, Herbert; Lanner, Julia; Ockermüller, Esther; Mirwald, Alina; König, Barbara; Kriechbaum, Monika; Meimberg, Harald; Meyer, Philipp T.; Rupprecht, Christina; Pachinger, Bärbel

doi:10.3390/biology12020316

“…Both datasets are combined by regridding the lower-resolution HistAlp data to the SPARTACUS grid, and calculating monthly adjustment factors for the common period 1961-1990 on each grid cell. Those factors are applied to the HistAlp data for the period 1780-1960, and from 1961 to 2020 the unmodified SPARTACUS data is used (Scharnhorst et al, 2023). From this combined dataset, a time series for the period 1850-2020 is compiled by averaging annual mean temperature values over the whole spatial domain.…”

Section: Data and Ensemble Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking local climate scenarios to global warming levels: Applicability, prospects and uncertainties

Becsi,

Formayer

2024

Preprint

1

0

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Global warming levels (GWLs) are increasingly becoming a central concept in climate change studies. In recent years, their integrative quality for climate change impact analysis has been demonstrated, and methodological advancements have helped to compensate for some inherent shortfalls of the concept. However, their applicability at the regional level is debatable, and no study to date has examined the possibility of linking local climate scenarios to GWLs. For the case of Austria, we have evaluated the relation between global and local warming patterns, and whether version changes of global climate models could be incorporated into local climate scenarios by means of the GWL concept, without updating the actual data. We applied the time sampling approach, where GWLs are determined as periods when global mean temperature anomalies cross a certain threshold. GWL periods were sampled both from the global models in the background of the local climate scenarios (CMIP5), and from an equivalent ensemble of newer-generation climate models (CMIP6). Uncertainties resulting from sampling GWLs from different global climate model ensembles were examined, and prospects for local climate change impact assessments were discussed. Accounting for updated global climate model versions might be useful when the changes at certain GWLs are related to fixed reference periods, but temperature increments between GWLs remained relatively constant across model versions, even on the local level. The study bridges a significant gap to link regional and local climate projections to GWLs. Climate change impacts assessments that build on those datasets can benefit from the integrative character of GWLs, making studies comparable across multiple disciplines and model versions, and thus fostering a way to communicate local climate change impacts more comprehensible.

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“…Both datasets were combined by regridding the lower-resolution HistAlp data to the SPARTACUS grid, and calculating monthly adjustment factors for the common period 1961-1990 on each grid cell. Those factors were applied to the HistAlp data for the period 1780-1960, and from 1961 to 2020 the unmodified SPARTACUS data was used (Scharnhorst et al 2023). The resulting dataset has been published on the research data repository 'Zenodo' 2024.…”

Section: Data and Ensemble Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking local climate scenarios to global warming levels: applicability, prospects and uncertainties

Becsi,

Formayer

2024

Environ. Res.: Climate

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Global warming levels (GWLs) are increasingly becoming a central concept in climate change studies. In recent years, their integrative quality for climate change impact analysis has been demonstrated, and methodological advancements have helped to compensate for some inherent shortfalls of the concept. However, their applicability at the regional level is debatable, and no study to date has examined the possibility of linking local climate scenarios to GWLs. For the case of Austria, we have evaluated the relation between global and local warming patterns, and whether version changes of global climate models could be incorporated into local climate scenarios by means of the GWL concept, without updating the actual data. We applied the time sampling approach, where GWLs are determined as periods when global mean temperature anomalies cross a certain threshold. GWL periods were sampled both from the global models in the background of the local climate scenarios (CMIP5), and from an equivalent ensemble of newer-generation climate models (CMIP6). Uncertainties resulting from sampling GWLs from different global climate model ensembles were examined, and prospects for local climate change impact assessments were discussed. Accounting for updated global climate model versions might be useful when the changes at certain GWLs are related to fixed reference periods, but temperature increments between GWLs remained relatively constant across model versions, even on the local level. The study bridges a significant gap to link regional and local climate projections to GWLs. Climate change impacts assessments that build on those datasets can benefit from the integrative character of GWLs, making studies comparable across multiple disciplines and model versions, and thus fostering a way to communicate local climate change impacts more comprehensible.

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Changes in the wild bee community (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) over 100 years in relation to land use: a case study in a protected steppe habitat in Eastern Austria

Zimmermann¹,

Sabine²,

Zettel³

et al. 2023

J Insect Conserv

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The wild bee community of a sand steppe habitat in Eastern Austria was surveyed in the years 2018 and 2019, complemented with historical data from over 100 years, and analyzed in relation to land use change. The mapping of land use categories was based on historical aerial photographs and orthophotos. Changes in bee community composition were analyzed by a multivariate statistical approach and took ecological traits into account (lecty, nesting type, habitat requirements, flight period, parasitism). In total, 310 bee species were recorded in the area, with the oldest records dating back to 1882. The bee species composition differed significantly among four defined time periods. Across the two most intensively sampled time periods (1931–1966 vs 2001–2021), a decline in species richness of over 50% was observed. We observed a disproportionally high decline of steppe- and sand-associated species, and a distinct shift from ground nesting species to above-ground nesting species. The area covered with woods increased from 1966 to 2018, while the total area covered with grassland and fallows decreased slightly between 1966 and 1994. The oligolectic species assemblage was specialized on Dipsacaceae, Brassicaceae and Fabaceae in the two earlier periods, and on Asteraceae and specifically on Carduoideae during the two later ones. Implications for insect conservation stronger reference to historic land management practices as short time periods of intensive grazing and small-scaled, staggered mowing would be desirable to improve the habitat quality. More drastic measures, such as removal of the topsoil in some parts and changes in the landscape re-establishing exposure to wind erosion, might be necessary, if the area is to be fully restored to the condition it was in a century ago.

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Changes in Community Composition and Functional Traits of Bumblebees in an Alpine Ecosystem Relate to Climate Warming

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Linking local climate scenarios to global warming levels: Applicability, prospects and uncertainties

Linking local climate scenarios to global warming levels: Applicability, prospects and uncertainties

Linking local climate scenarios to global warming levels: applicability, prospects and uncertainties

Changes in the wild bee community (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) over 100 years in relation to land use: a case study in a protected steppe habitat in Eastern Austria

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