Climate change is reshaping biodiversity, yet it remains challenging to distinguish the respective influences of short-term weather variability and long-term climate trends, particularly with regard to functional diversity. We analysed two long-term monitoring programmes in the Wadden Sea: one surveying breeding birds in spring and early summer and the other surveying waterbirds and waders throughout the year. Analyses were conducted separately for each programme to reflect their seasonal context. Across the East Frisian Islands (1996-2021), we combined standardised counts with ecomorphological traits to quantify species richness and diversity (using the Shannon Index) as well as functional diversity, expressed as standardised effect sizes of functional richness (FRic) and functional dispersion (FDis). We additionally computed mean species contributions for FDis and FRic. First, we estimated island-specific temporal trends in these metrics and then related them to short-term weather variability and long-term climate trends using mixed-effects models. Although taxonomic diversity generally increased over time, functional diversity often decreased, particularly in the case of FDis. This is consistent with functional homogenisation despite taxonomic gains. FDis was dominated by a few abundant taxa, whereas FRic was driven by less abundant species with distinct traits. The associations with environmental predictors varied between monitoring programmes: breeding-bird functional diversity exhibited stronger links with shortterm weather variability, whereas waterbird and wader patterns were more closely linked with long-term climate trends. Overall, these results emphasise the value of trait-based indicators in long-term monitoring and highlight that functional metrics can reveal community restructuring that is not captured by taxonomic metrics alone.

Aim: Terrestrial biodiversity is impacted by both climate and land use change. Yet, future biodiversity projections have rarely considered these two drivers in combination. In this study, we aim to assess the individual and combined impact of future climate and land use change on global terrestrial vertebrate diversity under a 'sustainability' (SSP1-RCP2.6) and an 'inequality' (SSP4-RCP6.0) scenario. Location: Global land, excluding Antarctica. Time Period: 1995, 2080. Major Taxa Studied: Amphibians, birds, and mammals. Methods: We combined global climate-driven species distribution model (SDM) projections of 13,903 vertebrates (amphibians, birds, and mammals) with future and present land use projections from the Land Use Harmonisation 2 (LUH2) project. We refined the SDM outputs by the habitat requirements of each species using a land use filtering approach. We then analyzed future species richness changes globally, per region, and per land use category, and looked at taxon-specific effects. Results: Under both scenarios, decreases in future species richness dominate at low and mid-latitudes, with climate and land use change playing an equally important role. Land use change can be either an alleviating (SSP1-RCP2.6) or an exacerbating (SSP4-RCP6.0) factor of climate-induced biodiversity loss. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to become a high-risk area for future land use-driven biodiversity loss under the SSP4-RCP6.0. Under SSP1-RCP2.6, forested and non-forested land areas increase, while SSP4-RCP6.0 leads to higher rates of deforestation and pasture expansion. Mammals experience the largest climate-driven losses, affecting 56.4% of land area under SSP4-RCP6.0, while amphibians are particularly vulnerable to land use-driven losses, especially under SSP4-RCP6.0. Main Conclusions: Our results suggest that both climate and land use pressures on biodiversity will be highest in lower latitudes, which harbor the highest levels of biodiversity.

The Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE) conceptualizes that temperature is the primary driver of species richness, a pattern well supported in terrestrial taxa but less certain for freshwater organisms. Limited global-scale evidence and frequent violations of MTE’s assumptions, particularly the stationarity of body size and abundance, further obscure its applicability. In freshwater systems, body size and abundance are tightly linked to dispersal and range size, which differ markedly between running-water (lotic) and standing-water (lentic) species, as proposed by the Habitat-Stability–Dispersal Hypothesis (HSDH). Adaptations to habitat stability may therefore generate distinct biogeographical trait patterns and modify richness–temperature relationships predicted by MTE. Utilizing comprehensive global functional, phylogenetic, and distributional data on dragonfly and damselfly species (83%) and habitat information (46%), we tested MTE predictions for lentic versus lotic species. Lotic species richness followed MTE expectations (slope: –0.469) more closely than lentic species richness (slope: –0.283). The proportion of lentic species in an assemblage was the strongest predictor of deviation in the species richness-temperature relationship (R2 = 38%). Assemblages dominated by lentic species clustered in climatically unstable regions and mainly including smaller-bodied species with larger ranges. Phylogenetic comparative analysis shows a strong phylogenetic signal in habitat preference, with the most species rich and northernly distributed families comprising predominately lentic species. Our findings suggest that adaptations to habitat stability facilitated the colonization and persistence of lentic species in harsh and fluctuating climates both past and present causing largely divergent species richness patterns of lentic and lotic odonates. Integrating HSDH-related traits (body and range size) not only substantially improves the explanatory power of the MTE, but also reveals a trait syndrome with broad implications for the biogeography and climate change responses of freshwater communities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Aim : Variation in thermal tolerances along environmental gradients is assumed to follow similar patterns across different biological scales, including within and between species, and across communities. However, this assumption has yet to be tested using comprehensive datasets collected through standardised methodologies.Location : Southern Asia.Time : Period 2017-2019.Major Taxa : Studied Ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and spiders.Methods : We quantified the associations between thermal tolerance traits and elevation or temperature at three biological scales (community, broad taxonomic group, and species) along two distinct elevational transects in Southern Asia. In total, we measured thermal tolerances of over 15,000 individuals from 114 arthropod species belonging to four invertebrate taxa (ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and spiders). We compared the relationships at each scale using mixed-effects models.Results : At the community scale, across all individuals of all species, we found a consistent decline in the values of three thermal tolerance traits (upper tolerance, lower tolerance, and tolerance breadth) with elevation along the Himalayan transect but an increase in the values of upper and lower tolerance along the Sulaiman transect. The relationships of thermal tolerance traits and elevation/temperature varied among the groups and species between the Himalayan and Sulaiman transects. This suggests that factors beyond elevation, including vegetation composition, microclimate, landscape features, and local adaptation, drive observed variation in thermal tolerance traits among and within species.Conclusion : Our study highlights the interplay between thermal physiology and the environment across different habitats and biological scales. Our findings indicate that predicting biodiversity responses to environmental change based on thermal tolerance-environment relationships requires careful consideration of group- and species-level variation. This is essential for improving the accuracy of climate change impact assessments on biodiversity.

Aim: To assess how environmental characteristics and human impacts contribute to the global prevalence of threatened bird species on islands (the ratio of threatened to non-threatened species per island), and to identify which types of land use are most strongly associated with extinction risk on islands. Location: Global. Time Period: Present-day extant species and land-use patterns. Major Taxa Studied: Terrestrial birds. Methods: We compiled bird species occurrence and conservation status data from BirdLife International and eBird, and environmental and land-use variables for islands. We grouped nine predictor variables into three categories: island characteristics (e.g., area, isolation, climate), human impacts (urban cover, cropland, human appropriation of NPP (HANPP)), and wildlands (intact habitat). We used model selection and BIC-based model weights to evaluate the relative support for each variable group and assessed which factors best explained the prevalence of threatened species. Results: Models including both island characteristics and human impact variables explained similar to 40% of the variation in the prevalence of threatened bird species across islands. The strongest predictor overall was island type: threatened species prevalence was significantly higher on oceanic islands than on continental islands. Among human impact variables, urban land cover had the most substantial effect, with threatened species prevalence up to five times greater on highly urbanised islands. Main Conclusions: The prevalence of currently threatened species across islands is shaped by the interplay between environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures. Our findings highlight urbanisation as a particularly potent driver of extinction risk, especially on oceanic islands. We suggest that island biogeography frameworks be updated to explicitly account for human-driven impacts, as island ecosystems are increasingly reshaped by global land-use transformations.

Biodiversity faces several global threats and communities are likely to show complex delayed responses. Accurately measuring these lags is critical to properly understand diversity dynamics. Here, we investigated these delays with minimal data availability and found critical mismatches between the temporal dynamics of taxonomic and functional diversity in Wadden Sea bird communities. By analysing 17 long-term time series spanning an average of 30+ years, we quantified the net imbalance between colonisations and extinctions (NICE) to measure delays in taxonomic (tNICE) and functional (fNICE) diversity. Our approach used empirically measured (trophic and morphological) traits, and in parallel, traits inferred through diffusion maps, allowing to quantify species traits only based on their co-occurrence patterns over time. First, we found that diffusion maps are a relevant tool to quantify species traits when trait data are scarce. Moreover, we found that, while initial colonisations outnumbered extinctions, the taxonomic balance shifted dramatically toward local species losses, deviating significantly from neutral expectations. Yet despite this concerning trend, functional diversity was stable. This stability likely stems from functional redundancy among declining species, temporarily preventing functional changes. However, despite current functional resilience, the on-going loss of taxonomically distinct species threatens to erode unique functional roles, potentially triggering abrupt shifts and/or collapse in ecosystem functions. Most critically, our study show how seemingly stable functional diversity can mask accelerating taxonomic losses, highlighting the urgent need for multi-faceted biodiversity monitoring. As global changes intensify, combining taxonomic and functional assessments through advanced analytical methods becomes essential for detecting early warning signals of ecosystem deterioration and implementing effective conservation strategies.

Abstract Current approaches to project spatial biodiversity responses to climate change mainly focus on the direct effects of climate on species while regarding land use and land cover as constant or prescribed by global land‐use scenarios. However, local land‐use decisions are often affected by climate change and biodiversity on top of socioeconomic and policy drivers. To realistically understand and predict climate impacts on biodiversity, it is, therefore, necessary to integrate both direct and indirect effects (via climate‐driven land‐use change) of climate change on biodiversity. In this perspective paper, we outline how biodiversity models could be better integrated with regional, climate‐driven land‐use models. We initially provide a short, non‐exhaustive review of empirical and modelling approaches to land‐use and land‐cover change (LU) and biodiversity (BD) change at regional scales, which forms the base for our perspective about improved integration of LU and BD models. We consider a diversity of approaches, with a special emphasis on mechanistic models. We also look at current levels of integration and at model properties, such as scales, inputs and outputs, to further identify integration challenges and opportunities. We find that LU integration in BD models is more frequent than the other way around and has been achieved at different levels: from overlapping predictions to simultaneously coupled simulations (i.e. bidirectional effects). Of the integrated LU‐BD socio‐ecological models, some studies included climate change effects on LU, but the relative contribution of direct vs. indirect effects of climate change on BD remains a key research challenge. Important research avenues include concerted efforts in harmonizing spatial and temporal resolution, disentangling direct and indirect effects of climate change on biodiversity, explicitly accounting for bidirectional feedbacks, and ultimately feeding socio‐ecological systems back into climate predictions. These avenues can be navigated by matching models, plugins for format and resolution conversion, and increasing the land‐use forecast horizon with adequate uncertainty. Recent developments of coupled models show that such integration is achievable and can lead to novel insights into climate–land use–biodiversity relations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

As anthropogenic pressures continue to increase, generalist species tend to be more resilient than specialised species. Specialisation can take various forms, among else dependence on other species through biotic interactions. Some Lycaenid butterflies (gossamer-winged butterflies: blues, coppers and hairstreaks; Lycaenidae Leach, 1815)) rely on host ants for larval care and survival (myrmecophily). This dependence may pose an additional threat. To investigate whether myrmecophily is associated with the long-term trends of Lycaenids, we compared 40-year occupancy trends derived from occupancy-detection models of ant-independent, facultative and obligate myrmecophile Lycaenidae in a central European model region. Contrary to our expectations, obligate myrmecophile butterflies did not show more declines compared to ant-independent ones. Five out of seven obligate myrmecophile butterflies increased, while five out of eight ant-independent Lycaenids decreased. Trends among facultative butterflies were highly ambiguous. The differences between the groups were not significant. Although obligate myrmecophile butterflies are protected significantly more often under stricter rules, the degree of protection did not affect Lycaenid long-term trends. European obligate myrmecophile butterflies interact with several ant species within widespread genera (primarily Myrmica Latreille, 1804, also Formica Linnaeus, 1758 and Lasius Fabricius, 1804) potentially protecting the larvae against environmental impacts and thus mitigating the effects of changing conditions on the butterflies. Incomplete understanding of the varying degrees of ant affiliation hinders the identification of specific interactions that may require increased conservation efforts. In our rapidly changing world, monitoring changes in the opportunities and strengths of species interactions is needed to prevent coupled species' extinctions and improve conservation outcomes. Angesichts zunehmender anthropogener Belastungen sind generalistische Arten in der Regel widerstandsf & auml;higer als spezialisierte Arten. Einige Schmetterlinge der Familie Lycaenidae (Bl & auml;ulinge: Echte Bl & auml;ulinge, Feuerfalter und Zipfelfalter) sind zum & Uuml;berleben an Ameisen gebunden, da ihre Larven auf die Pflege durch Wirtsameisen angewiesen sind (Myrmekophilie). Diese Abh & auml;ngigkeit k & ouml;nnte eine zus & auml;tzliche Bedrohung insbesondere f & uuml;r obligat myrmekophile Schmetterlinge darstellen. Um zu untersuchen, ob Myrmekophilie mit den langfristigen Trends der Bl & auml;ulinge zusammenh & auml;ngt, verglichen wir die 40-j & auml;hrigen Besiedlungstrends von ameisenunabh & auml;ngigen, obligat und fakultativ myrmekophilen Bl & auml;ulingen in der mitteleurop & auml;ischen Region Bayern. Entgegen unseren Erwartungen zeigten obligat myrmekophile im Vergleich zu ameisenunabh & auml;ngigen Bl & auml;ulingen keinen st & auml;rkeren Abw & auml;rtstrend. Tats & auml;chlich zeigten f & uuml;nf von sieben obligat myrmekophilen Lycaeniden steigende Tendenzen, w & auml;hrend f & uuml;nf von acht ameisenunabh & auml;ngigen Bl & auml;ulingen abnahmen und fakultative Schmetterlinge zumeist uneindeutige Trends aufwiesen; die Unterschiede waren jedoch nicht signifikant. Obwohl obligat myrmekophile Schmetterlinge signifikant h & auml;ufiger strikter unter Schutz stehen, hatte das Ausma ss der Schutzprogramme keinen Einfluss auf die langfristigen Trends der Lycaeniden. Europ & auml;ische obligat myrmekophile Schmetterlinge interagieren mit mehreren Ameisenarten innerhalb weit verbreiteter Gattungen (vor allem Myrmica, aber auch Formica und Lasius), die Raupen vor Umwelteinfl & uuml;ssen sch & uuml;tzen und so die Auswirkungen ver & auml;nderter Bedingungen auf Schmetterlinge abmildern k & ouml;nnten. Das Wissen & uuml;ber die Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Arten und den unterschiedlichen Graden der Abh & auml;ngigkeit von Ameisen ist unvollst & auml;ndig, was die Identifizierung spezifischer Wechselwirkungen erschwert, die m & ouml;glicherweise verst & auml;rkte Schutzbem & uuml;hungen erfordern w & uuml;rden. In unserer sich rasch wandelnden Welt ist ein kontinuierliches Monitoring von Ver & auml;nderungen solcher Arteninteraktionen notwendig, um Risikofaktoren und stabilisierende Aspekte zu identifizieren und gekoppeltes Aussterben von Arten zu verhindern. As specialist species are generally decreasing under the pressures of anthropogenic global change, we assessed whether myrmecophily affected 40-year occupancy trends of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae) in a European region. Obligate myrmecophile butterflies showed slightly, but insignificantly, more increasing trends compared with ant-independent or facultative myrmecophile Lycaenidae. Obligate myrmecophile butterflies' significantly stricter protection did not affect their long-term trends. In our rapidly changing world, monitoring changes in the opportunities and strengths of species interactions is needed to prevent coupled species' extinctions and improve conservation outcomes. image

Changing environmental conditions and land use are threatening biodiversity on a large scale, making successful conservation and restoration essential for maintaining biodiversity. Planning of such efforts profits from information about where conditions are suitable for biotopes, to evaluate how likely successful conservation or restoration is at these sites. This study uses the distribution model Maxent to identify varying levels of conservation and restoration potential for 29 different biotopes in the central European region of Bavaria, Germany, by comparing the environmentally suitable areas identified by models with the current distribution of each biotope. We identified a conservation potential when a biotope occurred under suitable environmental conditions and a restoration potential when suitable environmental conditions were present at a site where the biotope was not observed. We found that 69.57

Aim: Temperature is one of the main drivers shaping species diversity and assembly processes. Yet, site-specific effects of the local microclimate on species and trait compositions of insect communities have rarely been assessed along macroclimatic temperature clines.Location: Bavarian Alps, Germany.Methods: Bayesian joint species distribution models were applied to investigate how ecological and morphological traits drive variation in the climatic niches of 32 Orthoptera species on 93 grassland sites with contrasting microclimatic conditions along a steep elevational macroclimatic gradient in an Alpine region in Central Europe.Results: Species richness and abundance decreased along the elevational macroclimatic gradient, and both benefitted from warm microclimate. Interactive effects of elevation and microclimate on the abundance were, however, species-specific, and partly mediated by traits: Warm microclimatic conditions facilitated the occurrence of demanding xerophilic and late-hatching species, resulting in marked community dissimilarities at mid-elevations where colder sites harboured only a subset of the species. The latter mainly occurred at low elevations together with long-winged species. Abundance peaks of non-xerophilic species were further upslope when microclimate was warm. Intraspecifically, the body sizes and wing lengths of the larger females, but not the males, decreased with elevation akin the community mean, and brown colour morphs were more frequent at sites with warm microclimate.Main Conclusions: Our nuanced results reveal that trait-dependent responses of species to microclimate play a key role in the assembly and structuring of insect communities along macroclimatic gradients. Since microclimate preferences changed with elevation, we conclude that species temperature niches are narrower than the elevational range suggests and both macro- and microclimatic conditions must be considered when predicting species responses to climate change. Microclimatic contrasts among sites at similar elevations enhanced species turnover mediated by moisture preferences and phenology, highlighting the importance of mountains for conservation as climatic refugia where species with diverging niches can persist in proximity.

Our understanding of how biotic interactions influence animal community assembly is largely restricted to local systems due to the difficulty of obtaining ecologically meaningful assemblage data across large spatial extents. Here, we used thousands of spatio-phenologically high-resolution assemblages across three distinct European regions together with a functional diversity approach to understand community assembly of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata), an insect group characterized by a pronounced competitive reproductive biology. We found that adult dragonfly, but not damselfly, assemblages were consistently composed of species morphologically more different than expected by chance based on the traits that enhance their interspecific reproductive encounters. These results provide consistent evidence for the role of competition in the assembly of animal communities, which we interpret is most likely caused by the territorial reproductive biology of dragonflies. Support for competition varied both spatially and seasonally following theoretical expectations, as it was strongest in locations and seasonal moments with low thermal stress (i.e. warm conditions) and high niche packing. Our study illustrates how spatio-temporal diversity patterns arise from variation in assembly processes.

Aim: Temperature is regarded as an important driver of broad-scale biodiversity patterns. However, less is known of the role of dispersal in shaping broad-scale species and trait distributions, particularly given that species had to disperse out of glacial refugia after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Here, we used a unique dataset describing the distributions of freshwater fauna combined with trait information to evaluate biodiversity relationships to distance to glacial refugia and temperature. Location :Twenty-five biogeographical regions across Europe. Time Period: Data from species occurrence were gathered in 1978. Major Taxa Studied: A total of 2816 freshwater invertebrate species and 230 freshwater fish species. Methods: Using the occurrence of invertebrate and fish species in the biogeographical regions, and publicly available trait information, we analysed patterns in diversity indices (i.e. species richness, trait richness and trait redundancy), trait distribution and species and trait beta-diversity, and their relationship to distance to known glacial refugia and regional temperature. Results: We show that distributions of European invertebrate and fish species and traits are primarily explained by distance to refugia and its covarying effect with temperature (i.e. refugia tend to be warmer). Specifically, species and trait richness were higher in regions proximate to refugia and lower in distant regions. Additionally, communities in colder and distant regions exhibited reduced niche dimensions and slower life histories, suggesting increased vulnerability to environmental change. Main Conclusions: Species more distant from their refugia were characterized by higher dispersal capacities. Accordingly, since the LGM, only a subset of species was able to colonize distant regions, while many species have spatial ranges constrained by their dispersal capacity, increasing their potential for extinction under ongoing climate change. Therefore, additional conservation measures considering species' dispersal capacities are required.

Aim: We assessed the influence of island isolation on the composition of insular bird assemblages with a particular focus on species traits associated with dispersal. To do so, we tested whether ecomorphological metrics of dispersal ability, namely hand-wing index and Kipp's distance, increase with increasing island isolation. Location: Global. Taxon: Birds. Methods: We integrated global datasets of island characteristics with distribution and ecomorphological trait information of birds; our final dataset comprised information for 2034 native, resident and terrestrial species inhabiting 2399 islands. Species restricted to islands were removed to avoid potentially confounding effects of speciation, such as the evolution of flightlessness or poor flight on islands. Using the generalised additive models, we tested for the relationship between hand-wing index or Kipp's distance and island isolation, accounting for the effects of island area and spatial autocorrelation. We performed the analyses separately for (i) continental and oceanic islands and (ii) for all terrestrial birds and for passerine birds only. Results: Hand-wing index and Kipp's distance were positively related to island isolation on oceanic islands, that is bird communities on more isolated oceanic islands were composed of species with wings that had a higher aspect ratio and were more elongated. However, this relationship did not hold for continental islands. We found these patterns to be consistent for all terrestrial birds as well as for passerine birds only. Main Conclusion: Our study provides strong evidence that island isolation influences the trait composition of island bird assemblages at a global scale. Our results highlight the variation of dispersal-related ecomorphological traits among bird assemblages on islands, suggesting that these traits play an important role in mediating the influence of island isolation on community assembly processes on islands.

Temperature is one of the main drivers shaping species diversity and assembly processes. Yet, site-specific effects of the local microclimate on species and trait compositions of insect communities have rarely been assessed along macroclimatic temperature clines. Bavarian Alps, Germany. Bayesian joint species distribution models were applied to investigate how ecological and morphological traits drive variation in the climatic niches of 32 Orthoptera species on 93 grassland sites with contrasting microclimatic conditions along a steep elevational macroclimatic gradient in an Alpine region in Central Europe. Species richness and abundance decreased along the elevational macroclimatic gradient, and both benefitted from warm microclimate. Interactive effects of elevation and microclimate on the abundance were, however, species-specific, and partly mediated by traits: Warm microclimatic conditions facilitated the occurrence of demanding xerophilic and late-hatching species, resulting in marked community dissimilarities at mid-elevations where colder sites harboured only a subset of the species. The latter mainly occurred at low elevations together with long-winged species. Abundance peaks of non-xerophilic species were further upslope when microclimate was warm. Intraspecifically, the body sizes and wing lengths of the larger females, but not the males, decreased with elevation akin the community mean, and brown colour morphs were more frequent at sites with warm microclimate. Our nuanced results reveal that trait-dependent responses of species to microclimate play a key role in the assembly and structuring of insect communities along macroclimatic gradients. Since microclimate preferences changed with elevation, we conclude that species temperature niches are narrower than the elevational range suggests and both macro- and microclimatic conditions must be considered when predicting species responses to climate change. Microclimatic contrasts among sites at similar elevations enhanced species turnover mediated by moisture preferences and phenology, highlighting the importance of mountains for conservation as climatic refugia where species with diverging niches can persist in proximity.

Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on biodiversity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human-mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects-central components of many ecosystems-for which climate change has pervasive effects from individuals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort.

Establishing and maintaining protected areas (PAs) is a key action in delivering post-2020 biodiversity targets. PAs often need to meet multiple objectives, ranging from biodiversity protection to ecosystem service provision and climate change mitigation, but available land and conservation funding is limited. Therefore, optimizing resources by selecting the most beneficial PAs is vital. Here, we advocate for a flexible and transparent approach to selecting PAs based on multiple objectives, and illustrate this with a decision support tool on a global scale. The tool allows weighting and prioritization of different conservation objectives according to user-specified preferences as well as real-time comparison of the outcome. Applying the tool across 1,346 terrestrial PAs, we demonstrate that decision makers frequently face trade-offs among conflicting objectives, e.g., between species protection and ecosystem integrity. Nevertheless, we show that transparent decision support tools can reveal synergies and trade-offs associated with PA selection, thereby helping to illuminate and resolve land-use conflicts embedded in divergent societal and political demands and values.

Evaluating the impact of future changes in land-use and climate on species communities, especially species richness, is one of the most important challenges of current research in ecology and conservation. The impact of environmental changes on species richness depends on its sensitivity (i.e., how strongly a given level of change influences the ecological community) and its exposure (i.e., the amount of change that occurs). To examine the sensitivity, exposure, and potential impact of future environmental conditions on bird communities, we compiled data on bird species richness for Pakistan—a neglected region in macro- or country-scale studies. Since bird species richness strongly varies across seasons due to the seasonal occurrence of migratory species in winter, we compared both wintering (migratory plus resident species) and breeding (resident species only) bird richness. We found breeding and wintering species richness to be sensitive to temperature, precipitation and rainfed cropland by being positively related to these factors. Exposure varied regionally, with projected temperature changes being most profound in northern regions while the strongest projected precipitation changes occurred in central and southern regions. The projected impact of future environmental change were highly heterogeneous across the country and differed between the wintering and breeding communities. Overall, the most negatively impacted region was projected to be the Khyber Pakhtunkha province in the North of Pakistan, due to reductions in precipitation and rainfed cropland, resulting in a projected negative impact, especially on wintering species richness. By highlighting the regional and seasonal bird communities most at risk, our findings provide useful information for policy makers to help devise new policies for mitigating negative impacts of future environmental changes on birds within Pakistan.

Latitudinal body size-clines are primarily discussed in the context of thermoregulation, sensu Bergmann. However, body size patterns are ambiguous in ectotherms and this heterogeneity remains poorly understood. We hypothesised that the contrasting effects of thermoregulation and resource constraints obscure latitude–size relationships. Using data for 43% of all odonate species, we tested whether body size increases with decreasing temperature and increasing productivity in phylogenetically and spatially comparative analyses. We found strong but contrasting effects for temperature between Anisoptera and Zygoptera and consistent positive effects for productivity that explained 35%–57% of body size variation. We concluded that temperature, productivity, and conservatism in size-based thermoregulation synergistically determine the distribution of ectotherms, while the taxon-specific importance of these factors can lead to contrasting results and weak latitude–size relationships. Our results reinforce the importance of body size as a determinant of species distributions and responses to climate change.

Abstract Strong biodiversity declines have been reported across the European Union, especially in insects, despite conservation policy such as the Habitats Directive that aims to halt biodiversity loss. Using 50 years of observational data, we examined indicators for the goals of the Directive in terms of improving monitoring efforts and occupancy trends of butterfly and dragonfly annex species in a central European region. We quantified annual monitoring effort and used occupancy‐detection models to compare species trends for 18 years before and after legal implementation of the Directive. Monitoring efforts increased after implementation, while occupancy trends both improved and deteriorated. Contrary to its main goal, the European Habitats Directive did not prevent a worsening of all annex species’ occupancy trends in the studied region. While the increased monitoring efforts aid biodiversity assessments, more serious broad‐scale conservation measures are needed to halt biodiversity loss across Europe.