Functional redundancy of weed seed predation is reduced by intensified agriculture.

Intensified agriculture, a driver of biodiversity loss, can diminish ecosystem functions and their stability. Biodiversity can increase functional redundancy and is expected to stabilize ecosystem functions. Few studies, however, have explored how agricultural intensity affects functional redundancy and its link with ecosystem function stability. Here, within a continental-wide study, we assess how functional redundancy of seed predation is affected by agricultural intensity and landscape simplification. By combining carabid abundances with molecular gut content data, functional redundancy of seed predation was quantified for 65 weed genera across 60 fields in four European countries. Across weed genera, functional redundancy was reduced with high field management intensity and simplified crop rotations. Moreover, functional redundancy increased the spatial stability of weed seed predation at the field scale. We found that ecosystem functions are vulnerable to disturbances in intensively managed agroecosystems, providing empirical evidence of the importance of biodiversity for stable ecosystem functions across space.

Evaluating green infrastructure in urban environments using a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach.

Forested areas within cities host a large number of species, responsible for many ecosystem services in urban areas. The biodiversity in these areas is influenced by human disturbances such as atmospheric pollution and urban heat island effect. To ameliorate the effects of these factors, an increase in urban green areas is often considered sufficient. However, this approach assumes that all types of green cover have the same importance for species. Our aim was to show that not all forested green areas are equal in importance for species, but that based on a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach it is possible to value green infrastructure in urban environments. After evaluating the diversity of lichens, butterflies and other-arthropods, birds and mammals in 31 Mediterranean urban forests in south-west Europe (Almada, Portugal), bird and lichen functional groups responsive to urbanization were found. A community shift (tolerant species replacing sensitive ones) along the urbanization gradient was found, and this must be considered when using these groups as indicators of the effect of urbanization. Bird and lichen functional groups were then analyzed together with the characteristics of the forests and their surroundings. Our results showed that, contrary to previous assumptions, vegetation density and more importantly the amount of urban areas around the forest (matrix), are more important for biodiversity than forest quantity alone. This indicated that not all types of forested green areas have the same importance for biodiversity. An index of forest functional diversity was then calculated for all sampled forests of the area. This could help decision-makers to improve the management of urban green infrastructures with the goal of increasing functionality and ultimately ecosystem services in urban areas.

The InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: DNA barcodes of Portuguese moths.

Background: The InBIO Barcoding Initiative (IBI) Dataset - DS-IBILP08 contains records of 2350 specimens of moths (Lepidoptera species that do not belong to the superfamily Papilionoidea). All specimens have been morphologically identified to species or subspecies level and represent 1158 species in total. The species of this dataset correspond to about 42% of mainland Portuguese Lepidoptera species. All specimens were collected in mainland Portugal between 2001 and 2022. All DNA extracts and over 96% of the specimens are deposited in the IBI collection at CIBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources. New information: The authors enabled "The InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: DNA barcodes of Portuguese moths" in order to release the majority of data of DNA barcodes of Portuguese moths within the InBIO Barcoding Initiative. This dataset increases the knowledge on the DNA barcodes of 1158 species from Portugal belonging to 51 families. There is an increase in DNA barcodes of 205% in Portuguese specimens publicly available. The dataset includes 61 new Barcode Index Numbers. All specimens have their DNA barcodes publicly accessible through BOLD online database and the distribution data can be accessed through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Canopy arthropod declines along a gradient of olive farming intensification.

Arthropod declines have been linked to agricultural intensification. However, information about the impacts of intensification is still limited for many crops, as is our understanding of the responses of different arthropod taxa and trophic groups, thus hindering the development of effective mitigation measures. We investigated the impacts of olive farming intensification on canopy-dwelling arthropods in the Mediterranean region. Intensification involves the increased use of agrochemicals, mechanisation and irrigation, but also structural changes from traditional orchards with low densities of large and old trees, to intensive and superintensive orchards with high to very high densities of smaller and younger trees, respectively. Canopy arthropods were vacuum-sampled at 53 sites representing the three orchard intensification levels, in spring, summer and autumn 2017. We evaluated how the arthropod community varied across intensification levels, and in response to orchard structure, management and landscape context. We found no changes in the diversity of arthropod taxa across intensification levels after correcting for sample coverage, but arthropod abundance declined markedly along the intensification gradient. Decreased abundance was associated with changes in orchard structure, lower herbaceous cover, and higher herbicide and insecticide use. The abundance of a specialized olive pest was lower in landscapes with higher woodland cover. The negative effects of intensification were stronger in spring and summer than in autumn, and parasitoids and predators were particularly affected. Overall, results suggest that retaining herbaceous cover, reducing agrochemical inputs and preserving natural woody elements in the landscape, may contribute to mitigate impacts of olive farming intensification on canopy arthropods, particularly on beneficial species.

A food web approach reveals the vulnerability of biocontrol services by birds and bats to landscape modification at regional scale.

Pest control services provided by naturally occurring species (the so-called biocontrol services) are widely recognized to provide key incentives for biodiversity conservation. This is particularly relevant for vertebrate-mediated biocontrol services as many vertebrate species are of conservation concern, with most of their decline associated to landscape modification for agricultural purposes. Yet, we still lack rigorous approaches evaluating landscape-level correlates of biocontrol potential by vertebrates over broad spatial extents to better inform land-use and management decisions. We performed a spatially-explicit interaction-based assessment of potential biocontrol services in Portugal, using 1853 pairwise trophic interactions between 78 flying vertebrate species (birds and bats) and 53 insect pests associated to two widespread and economically valuable crops in the Euro-Mediterranean region, olive groves (Olea europaea subsp. europaea) and vineyards (Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera). The study area was framed using 1004 square cells, each 10 × 10 km in size. Potential biocontrol services were determined at all those 10 × 10 km grid-cells in which each crop was present as the proportion of the realized out of all potential pairwise interactions between vertebrates and pests. Landscape correlates of biocontrol potential were also explored. Our work suggests that both birds and bats can effectively provide biocontrol services in olive groves and vineyards as they prey many insect pest species associated to both crops. Moreover, it demonstrates that these potential services are impacted by landscape-scale features and that this impact is consistent when evaluated over broad spatial extents. Thus, biocontrol potential by vertebrates significantly increases with increasing amount of natural area, while decreases with increasing area devoted to target crops, particularly olive groves. Overall, our study highlights the suitability of our interaction-based approach to perform spatially-explicit assessments of potential biocontrol services by vertebrates at local spatial scales and suggest its utility for integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services in conservation planning over broad spatial extents.

The Orthoptera of Castro Verde Special Protection Area (Southern Portugal): new data and conservation value.

With the increasing awareness of the need for Orthoptera conservation, greater efforts must be gathered to implement specific monitoring schemes. Despite recent surveys, little is known about Portuguese Orthoptera populations. This study was performed in 2014 and 2015 mainly in Castro Verde Special Protection Area (SPA), southern Portugal, and is the first Orthoptera inventory conducted in the area. A total of 35 Orthoptera species was recorded, with two new species reported for Portugal. We provide species' habitat occurrences within the protected area and use information on the conservation status and the Iberian distribution of each documented species to discuss the importance of Castro Verde SPA for Orthoptera conservation. The data presented here sheds new light on Castro Verde SPA biodiversity and emphasizes the inclusion of this area in the conservation of Orthoptera diversity, particularly in the protection of threatened endemic species.

Butterflies of Guinea-Bissau: VIII. New data, new reports, corrections and biodiversity (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea).

New records are added to the Papilionoidea of Guinea-Bissau, many of which were obtained within the country's Protected Areas. Examination of the collected material yielded 9 new genera and 47 new species for the country, significantly increasing the knowledge of local butterfly diversity. 99 genera and 244 species are now known to occur in Guinea-Bissau, representing an increase of almost 20 % in the number of species and 7 % in the genera in relation to previous data. For each species, the studied material, probable abundance and proposed conservation status in the country are reported; some corrections relative to a few previous misidentifications are added. A gazetteer of the prospected localities is included, as well as species' occurrences within the Protected Areas and previous bibliographic references in Guinea-Bissau. The known geographical range, primary habitat and host-plants of each species/subspecies are also provided.