10.6084/m9.figshare.3749229.v1
Christopher Hassall
Christopher
Hassall
Jennifer Owen
Jennifer
Owen
Francis Gilbert
Francis
Gilbert
Phenological shifts in hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae): linking measurement and mechanism
figshare
2016
evolution
insect
phenology
climate change
hoverflies
Syrphidae
Community Ecology (excl. Invasive Species Ecology)
Evolutionary Biology
Global Change Biology
Life Histories
2016-08-21 22:09:22
Journal contribution
https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Phenological_shifts_in_hoverflies_Diptera_Syrphidae_linking_measurement_and_mechanism/3749229
<p>An
understanding of ecological and evolutionary responses to global environmental
change requires both a robust measurement of the change that is occurring and a
mechanistic framework for understanding the drivers of that change. Such a
requirement provides a challenge because biological monitoring is often ad hoc,
and mechanistic experiments are often performed under highly simplified
conditions. This
study integrates multiple datasets to evaluate our current knowledge of the
measurement and mechanism of phenological shifts in a key pollinator taxon: the
hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae). First, two large, complementary and
independent monitoring datasets are used to test for trends in phenology: an ad
hoc national recording scheme containing >620,000 records, and standardised
monitoring with consistent methods over 30 years. Results show that ad hoc and
standardised recording data give quantitatively the same value for phenological
advance in hoverflies (ca. 12 days×°C<sup>-1</sup> on average at the beginning of the flight
period), supporting the value of biological recording for the measurement of
global ecological change. While the end of the flight period appears static in
ad hoc recording, the standardised dataset suggests a similar advance as in the
beginning of the flight period. Second, an extensive traits dataset and a novel
database of laboratory-derived developmental data on Syrphidae (153 published
studies) are used to test for mechanistic patterns in phenological shifts. The
only species trait that influenced phenology was voltinism, where species with
more generations per year exhibit stronger phenological advances. We
demonstrate considerable variation in the laboratory-derived sensitivity to
temperature but this does not match field-derived measures of phenology. The results
demonstrate that, as for many taxa, we have a strong understanding of the
patterns of global ecological change but that we currently lack a detailed
mechanistic understanding of those processes despite extensive research into
the fundamental biology of some taxonomic groups. </p>