TY - JOUR

T1 - Global warming favours light-coloured insects in Europe

AU - Zeuss, Dirk

AU - Brandl, Roland

AU - Brändle, Martin

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

AU - Brunzel, Stefan

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful to S. Clusella-Trullas, R. Fricke, K. Gaston and C. Hof for their comments on previous versions of the manuscript. We thank A. Dannenberg and A. Sander for digitizing the butterfly distributions; and Y. Grewe and F. König for digitizing the dragonfly distributions. D.Z. acknowledges support from Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst. This study would have been impossible without the sedulous contribution of hundreds of field workers who collected data on the distribution of butterflies and dragonflies. We would also like to highlight the meticulous and beautiful artworks of R. Lewington (butterflies) and R. R. Askew (dragonflies), which gave us the possibility to conduct this study.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Associations between biological traits of animals and climate are well documented by physiological and local-scale studies. However, whether an ecophysiological phenomenon can affect large-scale biogeographical patterns of insects is largely unknown. Insects absorb energy from the sun to become mobile, and their colouration varies depending on the prevailing climate where they live. Here we show, using data of 473 European butterfly and dragonfly species, that dark-coloured insect species are favoured in cooler climates and light-coloured species in warmer climates. By comparing distribution maps of dragonflies from 1988 and 2006, we provide support for a mechanistic link between climate, functional traits and species that affects geographical distributions even at continental scales. Our results constitute a foundation for better forecasting the effect of climate change on many insect groups.

AB - Associations between biological traits of animals and climate are well documented by physiological and local-scale studies. However, whether an ecophysiological phenomenon can affect large-scale biogeographical patterns of insects is largely unknown. Insects absorb energy from the sun to become mobile, and their colouration varies depending on the prevailing climate where they live. Here we show, using data of 473 European butterfly and dragonfly species, that dark-coloured insect species are favoured in cooler climates and light-coloured species in warmer climates. By comparing distribution maps of dragonflies from 1988 and 2006, we provide support for a mechanistic link between climate, functional traits and species that affects geographical distributions even at continental scales. Our results constitute a foundation for better forecasting the effect of climate change on many insect groups.

U2 - 10.1038/ncomms4874

DO - 10.1038/ncomms4874

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24866819

AN - SCOPUS:84901675877

VL - 5

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

M1 - 3874

ER -