Life history, climate and biogeography interactively affect worldwide genetic diversity of plant and animal populations.

Understanding how biological and environmental factors interactively shape the global distribution of plant and animal genetic diversity is fundamental to biodiversity conservation. Genetic diversity measured in local populations (GDP) is correspondingly assumed representative for population fitness and eco-evolutionary dynamics. For 8356 populations across the globe, we report that plants systematically display much lower GDP than animals, and that life history traits shape GDP patterns both directly (animal longevity and size), and indirectly by mediating core-periphery patterns (animal fecundity and plant dispersal). Particularly in some plant groups, peripheral populations can sustain similar GDP as core populations, emphasizing their potential conservation value. We further find surprisingly weak support for general latitudinal GDP trends. Finally, contemporary rather than past climate contributes to the spatial distribution of GDP, suggesting that contemporary environmental changes affect global patterns of GDP. Our findings generate new perspectives for the conservation of genetic resources at worldwide and taxonomic-wide scales

Managing biological control services through multi-trophic trait interactions: Review and guidelines for implementation at local and landscape scales

Ecological studies are increasingly moving towards trait-based approaches, as the evidence mounts that functions, as opposed to taxonomy, drive ecosystem service delivery. Among ecosystem services, biological control has been somewhat overlooked in functional ecological studies. This is surprising given that, over recent decades, much of biological control research has been focused on identifying the multiple characteristics (traits) of species that influence trophic interactions. These traits are especially well developed for interactions between arthropods and flowers – important for biological control, as floral resources can provide natural enemies with nutritional supplements, which can dramatically increase biological control efficiency. Traits that underpin the biological control potential of a community and that drive the response of arthropods to environmental filters, from local to landscape-level conditions, are also emerging from recent empirical studies. We present an overview of the traits that have been identified to (i) drive trophic interactions, especially between plants and biological control agents through determining access to floral resources and enhancing longevity and fecundity of natural enemies, (ii) affect the biological control services provided by arthropods, and (iii) limit the response of arthropods to environmental filters, ranging from local management practices to landscape-level simplification. We use this review as a platform to outline opportunities and guidelines for future trait-based studies focused on the enhancement of biological control services

Vulnerability of Ecosystem Services in Farmland Depends on Landscape Management

Forty-four percent of Europe’s terrestrial surface is covered with agricultural land. Thus, agriculture strongly influences Europe’s environment, including ecological functions and processes

Data from: Decline of rare and specialist species across multiple taxonomic groups after grassland intensification and abandonment

Traditionally managed mountain grasslands are declining as a result of abandonment or intensification of management. Based on a common chronosequence approach we investigated species compositions of 16 taxonomic groups on traditionally managed dry pastures, fertilized and irrigated hay meadows, and abandoned grasslands (larch forests). We included faunal above- and below-ground biodiversity as well as species traits (mainly rarity and habitat specificity) in our analyses. The larch forests showed the highest species number (345 species), with slightly less species in pastures (290 species) and much less in hay meadows (163 species). The proportion of rare species was highest in the pastures and lowest in hay meadows. Similar patterns were found for specialist species, i.e. species with a high habitat specificity. After abandonment, larch forests harbor a higher number of pasture species than hay meadows. These overall trends were mainly supported by spiders and vascular plants. Lichens, bryophytes and carabid beetles showed partly contrasting trends. These findings stress the importance to include a wide range of taxonomic groups in conservation studies. All in all, both abandonment and intensification had similar negative impacts on biodiversity in our study, underlining the high conservation value of Inner- Alpine dry pastures

Landscape composition mediates the relationship between predator body size and pest control

Understanding the mechanisms contributing to positive relationships between predator diversity and natural pest control is fundamental to inform more effective management practices to support sustainable crop production. Predator body size can provide important insights to better understand and predict such predator‐pest interactions. Yet, most studies exploring the link between predator body size and pest control have been conducted in species‐poor communities under controlled environmental conditions, limiting our ability to generalize this relationship across heterogeneous landscapes. Using the community of naturally occurring ground beetles in cabbage fields, we examined how landscape composition (percent cropland) influences the size structure (mean, variance, and skewness of body size distribution) of predator communities and the subsequent effects on pest control. We found that predator communities shifted their size distribution toward larger body sizes in agriculturally dominated landscapes. This pattern arose from increasing numerical dominance of a few large‐bodied species rather than an aggregated response across the community. Such landscape‐driven changes in community size structure led to concomitant impacts on pest control, as the mean body size of predators was positively related to predation rates. Notably, the magnitude of pest control depended not only on the size of the dominant predators but was also strongly determined by the relative proportion of small vs. large‐bodied species (i.e., skewness). Predation rates were higher in predator assemblages with even representation of small and large‐bodied species relative to communities dominated by either large or small‐bodied predators. Landscape composition may therefore modulate the relationship between predator body size and pest control by influencing the body size distribution of co‐occurring species. Our study highlights the need to consider agricultural practices that not only boost effective predators, but also sustain a predator assemblage with a diverse set of traits to maximize overall pest control