Odonata enter the biodiversity crisis debate: The first global assessment of an insect group

By V. Clausnitzer, Vincent J. Kalkman, Mala Ram, B. Collen, J. Baillie, M. Bedjanič, W. Darwall, K. Dijkstra, R. Dow, J. Hawking and 8 more. 2009

397 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The status and trends of global biodiversity are often measured with a bias towards datasets limited to terrestrial vertebrates. The first global assessment of an insect order (Odonata) provides new context to the ongoing discussion of current biodiversity loss. A randomly selected sample of 1500 (26.4%) of the 5680 described dragonflies and damselflies was assessed using IUCN’s Red List criteria. Distribution maps for each species were created and species were assigned to habitat types. These data were analysed in respect to threat level for regions and habitat types. We have found that one in 10 species of dragonflies and damselflies is threatened with extinction. This threat level is among the lowest of groups that have been assessed to date, suggesting that previous estimates of extinction risk for insects might be misleading. However, Odonata only comprise a small invertebrate order, with above-average dispersal ability and relatively wide distribution ranges. For conservation science and policy to be truly representative of global biodiversity a representative cross-section of invertebrates needs to be included.

Subfields: Ecological Modeling, Ecology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/dd04ec1e667c72ecb319149f4976410111cd894c

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Citations in the corpus

Combined effects of habitat modification on trait composition and species nestedness in river invertebrates (2010, background): “Although such effects are recognised widely in terrestrial habitats, less attention has been paid to freshwaters, where extinction rates are rapid (Strayer and Dudgeon, 2010; Clausnitzer et al., 2009).”
Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers (2019, background): “A recent IUCN assessment indicates that 10% of the world's Odonata are threatened with extinction, although that study only covered a quarter of all species known and acknowledged data gaps for 35% of species, particularly those from tropical and Australasian regions (Clausnitzer et al., 2009).”
Focus on African freshwaters: hotspots of dragonfly diversity and conservation concern (2012, background): “org © The Ecological Society of America forests being especially species-rich; and (4) taxonomically well-studied globally, in comparison to other invertebrate groups (Kalkman et al. 2008; Clausnitzer et al. 2009).”
Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) in urban ecosystems: A review (2016, background): “…as a bioindicator group of habitat quality (Clark & Samways, 1996; Sahlén & Ekestubbe, 2001; Foote & Rice Hornung, 2005; Subramanian et al., 2008; Clausnitzer et al., 2009; Dolný et al., 2011) and are one of the taxa included in the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) score system…”
PAPER Recent range shifts of European dragonflies provide support for an inverse relationship between habitat predictability and dispersal (2013, background): “Odonates are well suited for such investigations as they are one of the best-known taxa of freshwater insects and invertebrates in general (e.g. Corbet, 2004; Kalkman et al., 2008; Clausnitzer et al., 2009) and many of their life-history traits are affected by temperature (Hassall & Thompson, 2008).”
Freshwater crabs and the biodiversity crisis: Importance, threats, status, and conservation challenges (2009, result): “The results were compared with similar studies of other groups of animals for which conservation assessments are available (Butchart et al., 2004; Stuart et al., 2004; Schipper et al., 2008; Carpenter et al., 2008; Clausnitzer et al., 2009).”
The dragonfly delusion: why it is essential to sample exuviae to avoid biased surveys (2010, background): “Odonates are declining worldwide due to the loss and deterioration of their habitat (Clausnitzer et al. 2009), and nearly 15% of known species are currently threatened with extinction (IUCN 2009).”
The impacts of habitat disturbance on adult and larval dragonflies (Odonata) in rainforest streams in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (2017, background): “…global assessment of the conservation status of dragonflies found that only one in 10 species were threatened globally, large numbers of species, particularly in the tropics, were ‘Data Deficient’ and so the authors acknowledge that the figure is likely to be much higher (Clausnitzer et al., 2009).”
Long-term macroinvertebrate responses to climate change: implications for biological assessment in mediterranean-climate streams (2010, background): “…examining the effects of climate change on species traits has focused primarily on individual taxonomic groups rather than entire communities (Mouthon and Daufresne 2006, Cordellier and Pfenninger 2008, Spooner and Vaughn 2008, Clausnitzer et al. 2009, Hering et al. 2009, Stamp et al. 2010).”
Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity (2018, background): “Although less comprehensively recorded than vertebrates, freshwater invertebrates are also faring worse than their terrestrial counterparts (Taylor et al. , 2007; Clausnitzer et al. , 2009; Cumberlidge et al. , 2009).”