Interactive effects of climate and land-use gradients on the abundance
of arthropod functional groups and trait syndromes in agroecosystems
Abstract
Land-use changes and climatic changes are two entwined stressors on
ecosystems and studies on such interactions often focus on species-level
or region-specific responses. Here we examine the influence of land-use
and climate gradients on the abundance of functional groups and trait
syndromes (based on diet breadth, habitat breadth, and dispersal mode)
in arthropod communities within European agroecosystems. Using a
previously compiled data set along with additional climatic data, we
found that both climate and land-use gradients significantly influenced
the abundance of pollinator and pest functional groups; examining trait
syndromes with functional groups, only diet and habitat specialists were
influenced by interactive effects of climate and land-use, but not
generalists. Increasing semi-natural habitat in landscapes appeared to
mitigate some of the negative effects of increasing temperature and
precipitation on certain arthropods. We conclude that functional
approaches examining impacts of qualitatively different stressors can
help inform future conservation actions or mitigation efforts.