The Early Season Community of Flower-Visiting Arthropods in a High-Altitude Alpine Environment
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The Early Season Community of Flower-Visiting Arthropods in a High-Altitude Alpine Environment. / Bonelli, Marco; Eustacchio, Elena; Avesani, Daniele; Michelsen, Verner; Falaschi, Mattia; Caccianiga, Marco; Gobbi, Mauro; Casartelli, Morena.
In: Insects, Vol. 13, No. 4, 393, 2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Early Season Community of Flower-Visiting Arthropods in a High-Altitude Alpine Environment
AU - Bonelli, Marco
AU - Eustacchio, Elena
AU - Avesani, Daniele
AU - Michelsen, Verner
AU - Falaschi, Mattia
AU - Caccianiga, Marco
AU - Gobbi, Mauro
AU - Casartelli, Morena
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - In mountain ecosystems, climate change can cause spatiotemporal shifts, impacting the composition of communities and altering fundamental biotic interactions, such as those involving flower-visiting arthropods. On of the main problems in assessing the effects of climate change on arthropods in these environments is the lack of baseline data. In particular, the arthropod communities on early flowering high-altitude plants are poorly investigated, although the early season is a critical moment for possible mismatches. In this study, we characterised the flower-visiting arthropod community on the early flowering high-altitude Alpine plant, Androsace brevis (Primulaceae). In addition, we tested the effect of abiotic factors (temperature and wind speed) and other variables (time, i.e., hour of the day, and number of flowers per plant) on the occurrence, abundance, and diversity of this community. A. brevis is a vulnerable endemic species growing in the Central Alps above 2000 m asl and flowering for a very short period immediately after snowmelt, thus representing a possible focal plant for arthropods in this particular moment of the season. Diptera and Hymenoptera were the main flower visitors, and three major features of the community emerged: an evident predominance of anthomyiid flies among Diptera, a rare presence of bees, and a relevant share of parasitoid wasps. Temperature and time (hour of the day), but not wind speed and number of flowers per plant, affected the flower visitors’ activity. Our study contributes to (1) defining the composition of high-altitude Alpine flower-visiting arthropod communities in the early season, (2) establishing how these communities are affected by environmental variables, and (3) setting the stage for future evaluation of climate change effects on flower-visiting arthropods in high-altitude environments in the early season.
AB - In mountain ecosystems, climate change can cause spatiotemporal shifts, impacting the composition of communities and altering fundamental biotic interactions, such as those involving flower-visiting arthropods. On of the main problems in assessing the effects of climate change on arthropods in these environments is the lack of baseline data. In particular, the arthropod communities on early flowering high-altitude plants are poorly investigated, although the early season is a critical moment for possible mismatches. In this study, we characterised the flower-visiting arthropod community on the early flowering high-altitude Alpine plant, Androsace brevis (Primulaceae). In addition, we tested the effect of abiotic factors (temperature and wind speed) and other variables (time, i.e., hour of the day, and number of flowers per plant) on the occurrence, abundance, and diversity of this community. A. brevis is a vulnerable endemic species growing in the Central Alps above 2000 m asl and flowering for a very short period immediately after snowmelt, thus representing a possible focal plant for arthropods in this particular moment of the season. Diptera and Hymenoptera were the main flower visitors, and three major features of the community emerged: an evident predominance of anthomyiid flies among Diptera, a rare presence of bees, and a relevant share of parasitoid wasps. Temperature and time (hour of the day), but not wind speed and number of flowers per plant, affected the flower visitors’ activity. Our study contributes to (1) defining the composition of high-altitude Alpine flower-visiting arthropod communities in the early season, (2) establishing how these communities are affected by environmental variables, and (3) setting the stage for future evaluation of climate change effects on flower-visiting arthropods in high-altitude environments in the early season.
KW - Alps
KW - Androsace brevis
KW - biotic interactions
KW - Diptera Anthomyiidae
KW - Hymenoptera
KW - insect pollinators
KW - mountain ecosystems
KW - parasitoid wasps
KW - temperature
KW - wind speed
U2 - 10.3390/insects13040393
DO - 10.3390/insects13040393
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35447835
AN - SCOPUS:85129193449
VL - 13
JO - Insects
JF - Insects
SN - 2075-4450
IS - 4
M1 - 393
ER -
ID: 308890304