Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution a study quantifying the influence of climatic and environmental factors on biodiversity

In a paper published on Nature Ecology & Evolution a research group of the University of Milan and CNR (IGG and ISAC) showed how some environmental factors (climate, land use and human population density) influenced the composition and functionality of arthropod populations. Distribution data for over 600 species of arthropods collected over 150 years  from locations across Italy were used for the study. Rapid changes in precipitation destabilize the assembleges and maximize colonization and extinction rates, especially when associated with changes in human population density (for taxonomy) or temperature (for functionality). Higher microclimatic heterogeneity increases biodiversity stability by reducing taxonomic and functional loss. Finally, changes in natural habitats increase colonization by external species. The integration of all these long-term data serves to understand the processes of biodiversity response to global-scale changes.

Bibliographic reference
Silvio Marta, Michele Brunetti, Raoul Manenti, Antonello Provenzale and Gentile Francesco Ficetola, 2021. Climate and land-use changes drive biodiversity turnover in arthropod assemblages over 150 years

. Nat Ecol Evol (2021). doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01513-0. 

For further information