TY - JOUR

T1 - Disentangling how urbanisation influences moth diversity in grasslands

AU - Sanetra, Dennis

AU - Berger, Johanna

AU - Hartlieb, Margarita

AU - Simons, Nadja K.

AU - Walther, Genevieve

AU - Blüthgen, Nico

AU - Staab, Michael

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. Insect Conservation and Diversity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Entomological Society.

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - Urban areas have profound impacts on local species diversity and composition through a set of intertwined changes in the environment. As the world is rapidly urbanising while simultaneously facing a biodiversity crisis, a better understanding of how urbanisation influences biodiversity is necessary. To test if and how urbanisation influences moth diversity and whether urbanisation is acting directly or indirectly via urbanisation-induced increased habitat isolation, smaller habitat area, higher light pollution and increased mowing intensity, we sampled moths with light trapping in 20 grasslands in the urban core of the city of Darmstadt (southwestern Germany) and 20 grasslands in the surrounding area. Moth abundance and diversity decreased with increasing urbanisation. Smaller habitat area and high mowing intensity reduced moth abundance, while other environmental variables including isolation and light pollution had only indirect effects. High levels of urbanisation were associated with reduced moth abundance, which in turn drove declines in diversity. Urbanised sites favoured generalist species and differed in species composition compared to sites in the surrounding. The results show that urbanisation is directly reducing moth abundance and diversity in cities. The negative effect of urbanisation is further attenuated by habitat fragmentation and high mowing intensity, which are both known drivers of biodiversity decline in urban areas and beyond. While urbanisation itself is often irreversible, reducing mowing intensity and preserving larger grassland areas could facilitate moths and other taxa in and around cities.

AB - Urban areas have profound impacts on local species diversity and composition through a set of intertwined changes in the environment. As the world is rapidly urbanising while simultaneously facing a biodiversity crisis, a better understanding of how urbanisation influences biodiversity is necessary. To test if and how urbanisation influences moth diversity and whether urbanisation is acting directly or indirectly via urbanisation-induced increased habitat isolation, smaller habitat area, higher light pollution and increased mowing intensity, we sampled moths with light trapping in 20 grasslands in the urban core of the city of Darmstadt (southwestern Germany) and 20 grasslands in the surrounding area. Moth abundance and diversity decreased with increasing urbanisation. Smaller habitat area and high mowing intensity reduced moth abundance, while other environmental variables including isolation and light pollution had only indirect effects. High levels of urbanisation were associated with reduced moth abundance, which in turn drove declines in diversity. Urbanised sites favoured generalist species and differed in species composition compared to sites in the surrounding. The results show that urbanisation is directly reducing moth abundance and diversity in cities. The negative effect of urbanisation is further attenuated by habitat fragmentation and high mowing intensity, which are both known drivers of biodiversity decline in urban areas and beyond. While urbanisation itself is often irreversible, reducing mowing intensity and preserving larger grassland areas could facilitate moths and other taxa in and around cities.

KW - artificial light at night

KW - Lepidoptera

KW - light trapping

KW - moths

KW - mowing

KW - species communities

KW - species diversity

KW - urban ecology

KW - Biology

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187895426&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/icad.12713

DO - 10.1111/icad.12713

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85187895426

VL - 17

SP - 229

EP - 242

JO - Insect Conservation and Diversity

JF - Insect Conservation and Diversity

SN - 1752-458X

IS - 2

ER -