Great chemistry between us: The link between plant chemical defenses and butterfly evolution.

Plants constantly cope with insect herbivory, which is thought to be the evolutionary driver for the immense diversity of plant chemical defenses. Herbivorous insects are in turn restricted in host choice by the presence of plant chemical defense barriers. In this study, we analyzed whether butterfly host-plant patterns are determined by the presence of shared plant chemical defenses rather than by shared plant evolutionary history.

Habitat amount and distribution modify community dynamics under climate change.

Habitat fragmentation may present a major impediment to species range shifts caused by climate change, but how it affects local community dynamics in a changing climate has so far not been adequately investigated empirically. Using long-term monitoring data of butterfly assemblages, we tested the effects of the amount and distribution of semi-natural habitat (SNH), moderated by species traits, on climate-driven species turnover. We found that spatially dispersed SNH favoured the colonisation of warm-adapted and mobile species.

Reprotoxic effects of the systemic insecticide fipronil on the butterfly .

In addition to controlling pest organisms, the systemic neurotoxic pesticide fipronil can also have adverse effects on beneficial insects and other non-target organisms. Here, we report on the sublethal effects of fipronil on the farmland butterfly . Caterpillars were reared on plants that had been grown from seeds coated with fipronil or on leaf discs topically treated with a range of fipronil dosages (1-32 µg kg on dry mass basis).

Differentiating the effects of climate and land use change on European biodiversity: A scenario analysis.

Current observed as well as projected changes in biodiversity are the result of multiple interacting factors, with land use and climate change often marked as most important drivers. We aimed to disentangle the separate impacts of these two for sets of vascular plant, bird, butterfly and dragonfly species listed as characteristic for European dry grasslands and wetlands, two habitats of high and threatened biodiversity. We combined articulations of the four frequently used SRES climate scenarios and associated land use change projections for 2030, and assessed their impact on population trends in species (i.

Functional traits help to explain half-century long shifts in pollinator distributions.

Changes in climate and land use can have important impacts on biodiversity. Species respond to such environmental modifications by adapting to new conditions or by shifting their geographic distributions towards more suitable areas. The latter might be constrained by species' functional traits that influence their ability to move, reproduce or establish.

Effects of large herbivores on grassland arthropod diversity.

Both arthropods and large grazing herbivores are important components and drivers of biodiversity in grassland ecosystems, but a synthesis of how arthropod diversity is affected by large herbivores has been largely missing. To fill this gap, we conducted a literature search, which yielded 141 studies on this topic of which 24 simultaneously investigated plant and arthropod diversity. Using the data from these 24 studies, we compared the responses of plant and arthropod diversity to an increase in grazing intensity.

Species richness declines and biotic homogenisation have slowed down for NW-European pollinators and plants.

Concern about biodiversity loss has led to increased public investment in conservation. Whereas there is a widespread perception that such initiatives have been unsuccessful, there are few quantitative tests of this perception. Here, we evaluate whether rates of biodiversity change have altered in recent decades in three European countries (Great Britain, Netherlands and Belgium) for plants and flower visiting insects.

Beyond climate envelopes: effects of weather on regional population trends in butterflies.

Although the effects of climate change on biodiversity are increasingly evident by the shifts in species ranges across taxonomical groups, the underlying mechanisms affecting individual species are still poorly understood. The power of climate envelopes to predict future ranges has been seriously questioned in recent studies. Amongst others, an improved understanding of the effects of current weather on population trends is required.

Bias in phenology assessments based on first appearance data of butterflies.

Data on the first appearance of species in the field season are widely used in phenological studies. However, there are probabilistic arguments for bias in estimates of phenological change if sampling methods or population abundances change. We examined the importance of bias in three measures of phenological change: (1) the date of the first X appearances, (2) the date of the first Y% of all first appearances and (3) the date of the first Z% of the individuals observed during the entire flight period.

The importance of scale of patchiness for selectivity in grazing herbivores.

The notion that spatial scale is an important determinant of foraging selectivity and habitat utilization has only recently been recognized. We predicted and tested the effects of scale of patchiness on movements and selectivity of a large grazer in a controlled field experiment. We created random mosaics of short/high-quality and tall/low-quality grass patches in equal proportion at grid sizes of 2×2 m and 5×5 m.