Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters
Alarming reports on the rapid decline of insects during the past decades call for the exploration of potential drivers of this process. Here, we test the hypothesis that the overall abundance and diversity of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) decrease under the impact of industrial pollution in th...
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MDPI AG
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13121124 https://doaj.org/article/1db4765b0d084f41a377ffa5d1ee8f0d |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1db4765b0d084f41a377ffa5d1ee8f0d 2023-05-15T14:59:53+02:00 Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters Mikhail V. Kozlov Vitali Zverev Elena L. Zvereva 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13121124 https://doaj.org/article/1db4765b0d084f41a377ffa5d1ee8f0d EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/12/1124 https://doaj.org/toc/2075-4450 doi:10.3390/insects13121124 2075-4450 https://doaj.org/article/1db4765b0d084f41a377ffa5d1ee8f0d Insects, Vol 13, Iss 1124, p 1124 (2022) industrial pollution sulphur dioxide heavy metals forest tundra Murmansk region Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13121124 2022-12-30T19:31:32Z Alarming reports on the rapid decline of insects during the past decades call for the exploration of potential drivers of this process. Here, we test the hypothesis that the overall abundance and diversity of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) decrease under the impact of industrial pollution in the fragile arctic environment. For this purpose, experienced collectors netted adult Lepidoptera at five tundra sites located 0.5 to 45.3 km from the ore-roasting plant in Zapolyarnyy and at five forest sites located 1.4 to 37.8 km from the copper–nickel smelter at Nikel, in the Murmansk region of Russia. The analysis of the 100 samples collected from 2003 to 2008 and containing 2312 individuals of 122 species revealed that the diversity of Lepidoptera declined significantly near both of these polluters due to both decreases in species richness and changes in the abundance of individual species, whereas the overall abundance of moths and butterflies was independent of the pollution load. These patterns did not differ between Nikel and Zapolyarnyy, and they were consistent with patterns previously found near the copper–nickel smelter at Monchegorsk. The abundances of Lepidoptera species showed variable changes along pollution gradients, from significantly negative to significantly positive, but individual species showed similar density changes around these three polluters. Disproportional increases in the abundance of a few pollution-tolerant species change the community structure and explain why the overall abundance of moths and butterflies does not decline even in localities experiencing extreme loads of sulphur dioxide and heavy metals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Monchegorsk ENVELOPE(32.874,32.874,67.940,67.940) Murmansk Insects 13 12 1124 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
industrial pollution sulphur dioxide heavy metals forest tundra Murmansk region Science Q |
spellingShingle |
industrial pollution sulphur dioxide heavy metals forest tundra Murmansk region Science Q Mikhail V. Kozlov Vitali Zverev Elena L. Zvereva Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters |
topic_facet |
industrial pollution sulphur dioxide heavy metals forest tundra Murmansk region Science Q |
description |
Alarming reports on the rapid decline of insects during the past decades call for the exploration of potential drivers of this process. Here, we test the hypothesis that the overall abundance and diversity of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) decrease under the impact of industrial pollution in the fragile arctic environment. For this purpose, experienced collectors netted adult Lepidoptera at five tundra sites located 0.5 to 45.3 km from the ore-roasting plant in Zapolyarnyy and at five forest sites located 1.4 to 37.8 km from the copper–nickel smelter at Nikel, in the Murmansk region of Russia. The analysis of the 100 samples collected from 2003 to 2008 and containing 2312 individuals of 122 species revealed that the diversity of Lepidoptera declined significantly near both of these polluters due to both decreases in species richness and changes in the abundance of individual species, whereas the overall abundance of moths and butterflies was independent of the pollution load. These patterns did not differ between Nikel and Zapolyarnyy, and they were consistent with patterns previously found near the copper–nickel smelter at Monchegorsk. The abundances of Lepidoptera species showed variable changes along pollution gradients, from significantly negative to significantly positive, but individual species showed similar density changes around these three polluters. Disproportional increases in the abundance of a few pollution-tolerant species change the community structure and explain why the overall abundance of moths and butterflies does not decline even in localities experiencing extreme loads of sulphur dioxide and heavy metals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mikhail V. Kozlov Vitali Zverev Elena L. Zvereva |
author_facet |
Mikhail V. Kozlov Vitali Zverev Elena L. Zvereva |
author_sort |
Mikhail V. Kozlov |
title |
Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters |
title_short |
Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters |
title_full |
Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters |
title_fullStr |
Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diversity but Not Overall Abundance of Moths and Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Decreases around Two Arctic Polluters |
title_sort |
diversity but not overall abundance of moths and butterflies (insecta: lepidoptera) decreases around two arctic polluters |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13121124 https://doaj.org/article/1db4765b0d084f41a377ffa5d1ee8f0d |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(32.874,32.874,67.940,67.940) |
geographic |
Arctic Monchegorsk Murmansk |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Monchegorsk Murmansk |
genre |
Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra |
op_source |
Insects, Vol 13, Iss 1124, p 1124 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/12/1124 https://doaj.org/toc/2075-4450 doi:10.3390/insects13121124 2075-4450 https://doaj.org/article/1db4765b0d084f41a377ffa5d1ee8f0d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13121124 |
container_title |
Insects |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1124 |
_version_ |
1766331995578695680 |