Many insects depend on high-altitude, migratory movements during part of their life cycle. The daily timing of these migratory movements is not random, e.g. many insect species show peak migratory flight activity at dawn, noon or dusk. These insects provide essential ecosystem services such as pollination but also contribute to crop damage. Quantifying the diel timing of their migratory flight and its geographical and seasonal variation, are hence key towards effective conservation and pest management. Vertical-looking radars provide continuous and automated measurements of insect migration, but large-scale application has not been possible because of limited availability of suitable devices. Here, we quantify patterns in diel flight periodicity of migratory insects between 50 and 500 m above ground level during March-October 2021 using a network of 17 vertical-looking radars across Europe. Independent of the overall daily migratory movements and location, peak migratory movements occur around noon, during crepuscular evening and occasionally the morning. Relative daily proportions of insect migration intensity and traffic during the diel phases of crepuscular-morning, day, crepuscular-evening and night remain largely equal throughout May-September and across Europe. These findings highlight, extend, and generalize previous regional-scale findings on diel migratory insect movement patterns to the whole of temperate Europe.This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.

Continental-scale patterns in diel flight timing of high-altitude migratory insects

Preatoni D.
Penultimo
;
2024-01-01

Abstract

Many insects depend on high-altitude, migratory movements during part of their life cycle. The daily timing of these migratory movements is not random, e.g. many insect species show peak migratory flight activity at dawn, noon or dusk. These insects provide essential ecosystem services such as pollination but also contribute to crop damage. Quantifying the diel timing of their migratory flight and its geographical and seasonal variation, are hence key towards effective conservation and pest management. Vertical-looking radars provide continuous and automated measurements of insect migration, but large-scale application has not been possible because of limited availability of suitable devices. Here, we quantify patterns in diel flight periodicity of migratory insects between 50 and 500 m above ground level during March-October 2021 using a network of 17 vertical-looking radars across Europe. Independent of the overall daily migratory movements and location, peak migratory movements occur around noon, during crepuscular evening and occasionally the morning. Relative daily proportions of insect migration intensity and traffic during the diel phases of crepuscular-morning, day, crepuscular-evening and night remain largely equal throughout May-September and across Europe. These findings highlight, extend, and generalize previous regional-scale findings on diel migratory insect movement patterns to the whole of temperate Europe.This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.
2024
2024
insect activity; diel flight activity; vertical-looking radar; insect migration; flight periodicity; circadian rhythm
Haest, B.; Liechti, F.; Hawkes, W. L.; Chapman, J.; Åkesson, S.; Shamoun-Baranes, J.; Nesterova, A. P.; Comor, V.; Preatoni, D.; Bauer, S....espandi
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
haest-et-al-2024-continental-scale-patterns-in-diel-flight-timing-of-high-altitude-migratory-insects.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: full-text
Tipologia: Versione Editoriale (PDF)
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 2.19 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.19 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11383/2172131
 Attenzione

L'Ateneo sottopone a validazione solo i file PDF allegati

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 4
  • Scopus 4
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 4
social impact