This blog post is provided by Emy Guilbault and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Strong context-dependence in the relative importance of climate and habitat on nation-wide macro-moth community changes”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, Guilbault and colleagues conducted a macroecological study of macro-moths in Finland, identifying the importance of considering both habitat and climate variables when predicting community-level change.

Global change is widely impacting species and communities across the globe. While climate change and habitat loss are well known threats, their relative importance in driving biodiversity change is a complex ecological puzzle. Our goal was to understand not only how these factors influence biodiversity, but also how their importance might shift depending on spatial locations and the species in question.

The Challenge of Context Dependence

One of the challenges in macroecology studies is context dependence i.e. the importance of different environmental drivers is not the same everywhere and for everyone but that it may depend on the specific conditions and the species involved. Intuitively, we expected climate to play a significant role for macro-moths in Finland since they are highly sensitive to temperature changes. However, each species may display different strategies to overcome change which rely on their ability to survive, move or adapt. Thus, local habitat characteristics might be equally important. Not to mention that species characteristics such as their size or their host plant preferences may weight in the balance.

To tackle this, we used a new predictive and analytical framework combined with long term monitoring data: 109 sites spanning 23 years.

Key Findings: Habitat Matters as well

Our results revealed that habitat characteristics were the primary drivers of moth communities across Finland. However, the relative importance of climate and habitat varied depending on the functional traits of the species and the dominant habitat types within a landscape.

For instance, species with different host plant affinities or living in more or less forested areas responded differently to changes in climate and habitat.

The Importance of a Holistic Approach

Another crucial highlight from our study was the need to consider both climate and habitat drivers to understand and predict community change accurately. By focusing on a single driver of environmental change, analyses can lead to misrepresentations of the actual community dynamics.

Our findings underscore the importance of habitat composition as a key driver of community change, even among temperature-sensitive species like macro-moths. This has significant implications for conservation strategies, which must account for the complex interplay between climate and habitat.

Broader Implications

Our research provides a novel, broad scale understanding of the importance of context dependence in species responses to environmental drivers. By considering both environmental conditions, local landscape and species functional traits, we can gain greater insights into how communities are likely to respond to global change. It’s not just about mitigating climate change or protecting habitats in isolation; it’s about understanding how these factors interact and influence biodiversity in different contexts.

This project was a collaborative effort that involved years of data collection, and analysis. We are thankful to the many researchers and volunteers who contributed to this work.

As we continue to untangle the complexities of ecological systems, we hope our findings will contribute to more effective conservation strategies and a deeper understanding of environmental drivers’ interplay shaping our natural world.

Read the paper

Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70107