Integrating multiple evidence streams to understand insect biodiversity change

Cooke, R., Outhwaite, C. L., Bladon, A. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2677-1247, Millard, J., Rodger, J. G., Dong, Z., Dyer, E. E., Edney, S., Murphy, J. F., Dicks, L. V., Hui, C., Jones, J. I., Newbold, T., Purvis, A., Roy, H. E., Woodcock, B. A. and Isaac, N. J. B. (2025) Integrating multiple evidence streams to understand insect biodiversity change. Science, 388 (6742). eadq2110. ISSN 1095-9203 doi: 10.1126/science.adq2110

Abstract/Summary

Insects dominate animal species diversity yet face many threats from anthropogenic drivers of change. Many features of insect ecology make them a challenging group, and the fragmented state of knowledge compromises our ability to make general statements about their status. Here, we discuss the challenges of assessing insect biodiversity change. We describe how multiple lines of evidence – time series, spatial comparisons, experiments, and expert opinion – can be integrated to provide a synthesis overview of how insect biodiversity responds to drivers. Applying this approach will generate testable predictions of insect biodiversity across space, time, and changing drivers. Given the urgency of accelerating human impacts across the environment, this approach could yield a much-needed rapid assessment of insect biodiversity change.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/121700
Identification Number/DOI	10.1126/science.adq2110
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Publisher	American Association for the Advancement of Science
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