Alpine regions worldwide are recognized as hotspots of biodiversity and endemism. In southern South America, however, the insect fauna of high-altitude environments remains poorly documented, and no information is available for the high-Andean environment of Argentine Patagonia. This study provides the first inventory of the insect community inhabiting this ecosystem in northwestern Patagonia. A total of 215 taxa belonging to 85 families and 14 insect orders were recorded. Diptera and Hymenoptera were the most species-rich groups, accounting for approximately half of the total diversity. About 62
Invertebrate conservation is frequently hampered by a lack of information regarding habitat preferences, spatial distributions, and threats from human habitat alteration, making detection of previously undiscovered populations a challenge. To address these needs for a rare, federally endangered aquatic beetle, the Hungerford’s crawling water beetle (Brychius hungerfordi), we developed a species distribution model (SDM) to identify potential survey locations aimed at locating previously undiscovered populations in Michigan, USA. SDM results were further used to assess a variety of contemporary and future anthropogenic threats to B. hungerfordi habitats. Across the study region, only 6.9
Climate- and land-use change represent major threats to Orthoptera, yet their combined impacts on species distributions remain poorly understood. We assessed the individual and synergistic effects of these drivers on seven threatened and endemic montane Orthoptera of the genera Parnassiana and Oropodisma in Greece, a Mediterranean hotspot ( 400 Orthoptera species). Using species distribution models that integrate dynamic land-use projections with climate change scenarios through 2100, we evaluated potential range contractions, altitudinal shifts, and key environmental predictors shaping their habitat suitability. All model sets projected severe habitat loss and range contraction, highlighting the importance of accounting for both climate and land-use change. The narrow endemics, P. coracis and P. gionica, are predicted to lose their entire suitable range under every climatic scenario, while O. willemsei is expected to be less affected due to its broader distribution. The number of months with mean temperature > 10 °C was the dominant climatic predictor across species, whereas shrubs were the most influential land-cover variable. All taxa exhibited upslope shifts in suitable habitat, with P. parnassica and O. parnassica showing the largest altitudinal increases (193–252 m). The major future threats in the area will be land conversion from wind power infrastructure expansions and forest encroachment following land abandonment. Our results highlight the importance of maintaining high-elevation grasslands and shrubs through mild-intensity sheep/goat grazing, while preventing further infrastructure expansion, to protect the remaining habitat of range-restricted montane Orthoptera.
Understanding how biodiversity is structured along major environmental gradients is a cornerstone of biogeography and is crucial for developing effective, proactive conservation strategies in the face of climate change. This study provides a country-scale analysis of the influence of altitudinal gradients on the distribution and diversity of harvestmen (Opiliones) in Slovakia, Central Europe. Using a comprehensive dataset of 35 taxa from 2,772 localities spanning 98–2,160 m a.s.l., we assessed species-specific elevation ranges (including interquartile ranges) and modelled community-level richness patterns. While the total altitudinal ranges of most species (25 of 35) exceeded 1,000 m, a more detailed analysis of their interquartile ranges revealed a more nuanced pattern, with core distributions concentrated in narrower altitudinal zones. Despite this prevalence of broad total ranges, species richness varied non-linearly with altitude, increasing from the lowest elevations to a maximum at approximately 490 m a.s.l. and declining significantly above about 1,250 m. The complex topography of the Western Carpathians creates microclimatic refugia, allowing for occurrences outside expected altitudinal zones. Our results demonstrate that while the regional fauna is dominated by species with broad total elevational ranges, community richness varies non-linearly along the elevation gradient, with a marked decline only at higher elevations, likely reflecting the combined effects of climatic conditions, habitat availability, and topographic complexity. This study establishes a critical quantitative baseline for monitoring climate-change-driven shifts in invertebrate communities. It underscores that the conservation of entire, intact elevational gradients—not just high-diversity hotspots—is an essential strategy. Protecting these topographic complexes safeguards microclimatic refugia and provides the habitat connectivity necessary for species persistence and adaptation.
Farmland abandonment can alter insect biodiversity, but its effects on ground-dwelling beetles in semiarid perennial forage systems remain poorly understood. We examined the taxonomic diversity and community responses of Carabidae, Tenebrionidae, and Scarabaeidae across managed, lightly abandoned, and heavily abandoned alfalfa fields in semiarid northwestern China. Beetles were sampled using pitfall traps at 33 sites from 2021 to 2023 and environmental associations were assessed using mixed models, ordination, random forests and piecewise structural equation models. We recorded 33,122 individuals belonging to 71 species. Carabidae activity density peaked in lightly abandoned fields, whereas species richness and Shannon diversity remaining stable; Tenebrionidae activity density and species richness increased with abandonment, but Shannon-Wiener diversity declined, indicating stronger dominance by abandonment-tolerant species. Scarabaeidae activity density and richness declined with abandonment, whereas Shannon-Wiener diversity was higher in abandoned fields. Community composition changed most clearly in Tenebrionidae. These contrasting responses indicate that abandonment does not produce a uniform beetle diversity response, but instead reorganizes beetle assemblages through family-specific associations with vegetation structure, soil conditions and climatic gradients. Contrasting responses among beetle families indicate that no single stage of abandonment maximizes conservation value for all ground-dwelling beetles. Maintaining a mosaic of managed alfalfa fields and fields at different stages of abandonment may help conserve complementary beetle assemblages. Management targeting Scarabaeidae should also consider grazing-associated resources and soil conditions.
