The local species richness of Dragonflies in mountain waterbodies: an indicator of climate warming?

By

Oertli, Beat

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2010

Original Publication

BioRisk : biodiversity & ecosystem risk assessment

Volume

5

Pages

243-251

Subjects

biodiversity, Odonata, alpha richness, boreo-alpin

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biorisk.5.853

 

Abstract

With climate warming, many Odonata species are extending their geographical area. In Switzerland, as in many parts of the world, this phenomenon may lead to a regional increase in species richness. The local richness (the richness of individual waterbodies) is also expected to increase, particularly in the alpine or subalpine areas where the waterbodies are particularly species–poor. Based on the species richness recorded in 109 waterbodies scattered all across Switzerland, a model is presented here relating the local species richness (adult dragonflies) to environmental variables, including the mean annual air temperature. This model predicts a sharp increase in species richness for alpine or subalpine waterbodies, which is expected to double or even treble before the end of this century. This increase would mainly be the consequence of the immigration of eurythermal species extending their geographical range, together with potential local extinctions of the cold stenothermal species.