Rapid declines of common, widespread British moths provide evidence of an insect biodiversity crisis

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Conrad, K. F., Warren, M. S., Fox, R., Parsons, M. S. and Woiwod, I. P. 2006. Rapid declines of common, widespread British moths provide evidence of an insect biodiversity crisis. Biological Conservation. 132, pp. 279-291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.04.020

AuthorsConrad, K. F., Warren, M. S., Fox, R., Parsons, M. S. and Woiwod, I. P.
Abstract

A fundamental problem in estimating biodiversity loss is that very little quantitative data are available for insects, which comprise more than two-thirds of terrestrial species. We present national population trends for a species-rich and ecologically diverse insect group: widespread and common macro-moths in Britain. Two-thirds of the 337 species studied have declined over the 35 yr study and 21% (71) of the species declined >30% 10 yr−1. If IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria are applied at the national scale, these 71 species would be regarded as threatened. The declines are at least as great as those recently reported for British butterflies and exceed those of British birds and vascular plants. These results have important and worrying implications for species such as insectivorous birds and bats, and suggests as-yet undetected declines may be widespread among temperate-zone insects. 

KeywordsRRES175; 175_Ecology; 175_Entomology
Year of Publication2006
JournalBiological Conservation
Journal citation132, pp. 279-291
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.04.020
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Funder project or code510
Long term populating trends in common British moths
Agricultural implications of insect population dynamics and the conservation of biodiversity
Publication dates
Online30 Jun 2006
Publication process dates
Accepted14 Apr 2006
ISSN0006-3207
PublisherElsevier Sci Ltd

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