Gao Huize, Zhao Dong, Zeng Hua, Jiang Yanchen, Li Jialing, Zhang Wei
State Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Modulation Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
iScience. 2025 Mar 18;28(5):112238. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112238. eCollection 2025 May 16.
Terrestrial arthropods, essential providers of ecological services, are valuable eco-indicators because of their environmental sensitivity, although their diversity remains less studied than that of plants and vertebrates. In this study, we conducted a four-year survey of arthropod diversity in three areas representing rainforest, farmland, and shrubland in Hainan, a tropical island included in a biodiversity hotspot, to investigate the arthropod distribution and influencing factors by sampling Nymphalidae butterflies and Salticidae spiders. Our results showed that butterflies are more sensitive than spiders to ecological changes, such as changes in temperature and vegetation. Notably, the abundance and diversity of butterflies clearly decreased in areas with greater human disturbance, whereas spiders presented a more consistent distribution across sites and years. Our study established a research paradigm by integrating arthropod taxa from different trophic levels for biodiversity monitoring and highlighted the importance of arthropod surveys for effective conservation strategies.
陆地节肢动物是生态系统服务的重要提供者，由于其对环境敏感，是有价值的生态指示生物，尽管对其多样性的研究仍少于植物和脊椎动物。在本研究中，我们对海南（一个位于生物多样性热点地区的热带岛屿）代表雨林、农田和灌丛的三个区域进行了为期四年的节肢动物多样性调查，通过对蛱蝶科蝴蝶和跳蛛科蜘蛛进行采样来研究节肢动物的分布及其影响因素。我们的结果表明，蝴蝶比蜘蛛对生态变化（如温度和植被变化）更敏感。值得注意的是，在人类干扰较大的地区，蝴蝶的数量和多样性明显下降，而蜘蛛在不同地点和年份的分布更为一致。我们的研究通过整合不同营养级的节肢动物类群建立了一个生物多样性监测的研究范式，并强调了节肢动物调查对有效保护策略的重要性。
