Land Use Change Consistently Reduces α- But Not β- and γ-Diversity of Bees
Tsang, T.P.N. ; Klatt, B.K. LU
; Samnegård, U.
LU
and Bonebrake, T.C.
(2025)
In Global Change Biology
31(1).
- Abstract
- Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ-diversity), either due to reduced β-diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased β-diversity dampening diversity loss. Additionally, studies often focus on taxonomic diversity, while other important biodiversity components, including phylogenetic diversity, can exhibit differential responses. Here, we evaluated how agricultural and urban land use alters the taxonomic and phylogenetic α-, β-, and γ-diversity of an important pollinator taxon-bees. Using a multicontinental... (More)
- Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ-diversity), either due to reduced β-diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased β-diversity dampening diversity loss. Additionally, studies often focus on taxonomic diversity, while other important biodiversity components, including phylogenetic diversity, can exhibit differential responses. Here, we evaluated how agricultural and urban land use alters the taxonomic and phylogenetic α-, β-, and γ-diversity of an important pollinator taxon-bees. Using a multicontinental dataset of 3117 bee assemblages from 157 studies, we found that taxonomic α-diversity was reduced by 16%-18% in both agricultural and urban habitats relative to natural habitats. Phylogenetic α-diversity was decreased by 11%-12% in agricultural and urban habitats. Compared with natural habitats, taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity increased by 11% and 6% in urban habitats, respectively, but exhibited no systematic change in agricultural habitats. We detected a 22% decline in taxonomic γ-diversity and a 17% decline in phylogenetic γ-diversity in agricultural habitats, but γ-diversity of urban habitats was not significantly different from natural habitats. These findings highlight the threat of agricultural expansions to large-scale bee diversity due to systematic γ-diversity decline. In addition, while both urbanization and agriculture lead to consistent declines in α-diversity, their impacts on β- or γ-diversity vary, highlighting the need to study the effects of land use change at multiple scales. © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2adbb7fc-664a-49be-ad5b-f262235d9886
- author
- Tsang, T.P.N.
; Klatt, B.K.
LU
; Samnegård, U.
LU
and Bonebrake, T.C.
- author collaboration
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- agriculture, bees, biodiversity decline, land uses, pollinators, urban, animal experiment, Apidae, article, biodiversity, controlled study, drug therapy, food industry, habitat, land use, nonhuman, pollination, pollinator, species diversity, taxon, urban area, urbanization
- in
- Global Change Biology
- volume
- 31
- issue
- 1
- article number
- e70006
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85214590696
- pmid:39754379
- ISSN
- 1365-2486
- DOI
- 10.1111/gcb.70006
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2adbb7fc-664a-49be-ad5b-f262235d9886
- date added to LUP
- 2025-12-16 14:15:16
- date last changed
- 2025-12-17 03:00:14
@article{2adbb7fc-664a-49be-ad5b-f262235d9886,
abstract = {{Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ-diversity), either due to reduced β-diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased β-diversity dampening diversity loss. Additionally, studies often focus on taxonomic diversity, while other important biodiversity components, including phylogenetic diversity, can exhibit differential responses. Here, we evaluated how agricultural and urban land use alters the taxonomic and phylogenetic α-, β-, and γ-diversity of an important pollinator taxon-bees. Using a multicontinental dataset of 3117 bee assemblages from 157 studies, we found that taxonomic α-diversity was reduced by 16%-18% in both agricultural and urban habitats relative to natural habitats. Phylogenetic α-diversity was decreased by 11%-12% in agricultural and urban habitats. Compared with natural habitats, taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity increased by 11% and 6% in urban habitats, respectively, but exhibited no systematic change in agricultural habitats. We detected a 22% decline in taxonomic γ-diversity and a 17% decline in phylogenetic γ-diversity in agricultural habitats, but γ-diversity of urban habitats was not significantly different from natural habitats. These findings highlight the threat of agricultural expansions to large-scale bee diversity due to systematic γ-diversity decline. In addition, while both urbanization and agriculture lead to consistent declines in α-diversity, their impacts on β- or γ-diversity vary, highlighting the need to study the effects of land use change at multiple scales. © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.}},
author = {{Tsang, T.P.N. and Klatt, B.K. and Samnegård, U. and Bonebrake, T.C.}},
issn = {{1365-2486}},
keywords = {{agriculture; bees; biodiversity decline; land uses; pollinators; urban; animal experiment; Apidae; article; biodiversity; controlled study; drug therapy; food industry; habitat; land use; nonhuman; pollination; pollinator; species diversity; taxon; urban area; urbanization}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Global Change Biology}},
title = {{Land Use Change Consistently Reduces α- But Not β- and γ-Diversity of Bees}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70006}},
doi = {{10.1111/gcb.70006}},
volume = {{31}},
year = {{2025}},
}