Long-term insect censuses capture progressive loss of ecosystem functioning in East Asia

Insects provide critical ecosystem services such as biological pest control, in which natural enemies (NE) regulate the populations of crop-feeding herbivores (H). While H-NE dynamics are routinely studied at small spatiotemporal scales, multiyear assessments over entire agrolandscapes are rare. Her...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science advances 2023-02, Vol.9 (5), p.eade9341
Main Authors: Zhou, Yan, Zhang, Haowen, Liu, Dazhong, Khashaveh, Adel, Li, Qian, Wyckhuys, Kris A G, Wu, Kongming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Asia, Eastern
Censuses
Earth, Environmental, Ecological, and Space Sciences
Ecology
Ecosystem
Food Chain
Insecta - physiology
SciAdv r-articles
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Summary:Insects provide critical ecosystem services such as biological pest control, in which natural enemies (NE) regulate the populations of crop-feeding herbivores (H). While H-NE dynamics are routinely studied at small spatiotemporal scales, multiyear assessments over entire agrolandscapes are rare. Here, we draw on 18-year radar and searchlight trapping datasets (2003-2020) from eastern Asia to (i) assess temporal population trends of 98 airborne insect species and (ii) characterize the associated H-NE interplay. Although NE consistently constrain interseasonal H population growth, their summer abundance declined by 19.3% over time and prominent agricultural pests abandoned their equilibrium state. Within food webs composed of 124 bitrophic couplets, NE abundance annually fell by 0.7% and network connectance dropped markedly. Our research unveils how a progressive decline in insect numbers debilitates H trophic regulation and ecosystem stability at a macroscale, carrying implications for food security and (agro)ecological resilience during times of global environmental change.
ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.ade9341