Nature conservation and insect decline in Central Europe: Loss of Lepidoptera in key protected sites is accompanied by substantial land cover changes
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F25%3A00641444" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/25:00641444 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://eje.cz/pdfs/eje/2025/01/35.pdf" target="_blank" >https://eje.cz/pdfs/eje/2025/01/35.pdf</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.14411/eje.2025.035" target="_blank" >10.14411/eje.2025.035</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Nature conservation and insect decline in Central Europe: Loss of Lepidoptera in key protected sites is accompanied by substantial land cover changes
Original language description
The insect biodiversity crisis affects diverse cultural landscapes as well as natural and semi-natural habitats. Accordingly, the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving insect communities needs to be evaluated. We employed photo-interpretation of aerial photographs from the past (1938–1947) and present (2014–2019) to analyse changes in natural habitats with diverse canopy cover in seven long-term protected areas (jointly called ‘reserves’) in the Czech Republic, Central Europe, and evaluated potential links between these changes and butterfly and moth (Lepidoptera) declines. We observed a marked decrease in habitat heterogeneity, largely due to the expansion of closed-canopy forests at the expense of semi-open habitats (e.g. forest steppes, open woodlands) and open grasslands. An analysis of faunistic records of 162 species of butterflies and 160 species of macro-moths before and after 2000 showed that, on average, the reserves have experienced losses of 26% of butterfly species and 19% of moth species. Trait-based analyses suggested that the losses were associated with particular life-history traits. Non-generalist butterflies with a short period of seasonal flight activity, and moths associated with grasslands and with non-feeding adults, had a greater probability of going missing (meaning potentially locally extinct) in the reserves. These findings suggest that conservation efforts should prioritise active management that aims to restore habitat heterogeneity in order to mitigate the ongoing trend of insect decline.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10619 - Biodiversity conservation
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/TO01000132" target="_blank" >TO01000132: Application of traditional knowledge to halt biodiversity loss in woodlands</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
European Journal of Entomology
ISSN
1210-5759
e-ISSN
1802-8829
Volume of the periodical
122
Issue of the periodical within the volume
November 2025
Country of publishing house
CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC
Number of pages
15
Pages from-to
308-322
UT code for WoS article
001615022600001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105026667571