Constanti Stefanescu

Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers

The importance of genetic diversity has been recognised by the Convention on Biological Diversity but attempts at monitoring or improving the genetic diversity of populations have been minimal. Here, we investigate changes over time in the genetic diversity of a wild insect species, Maniola jurtina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and present a large‐sca...

In migratory insects performing multigenerational migration, such as the painted lady butterfly Vanessa cardui, successive generations face a wide variety of predator communities and may be subject to different predation risks. Here, we analyze the pattern of wing damage of over 2000 butterflies to investigate, for the first time, the risk of preda...

Background Maternally-inherited symbionts can induce pre-mating and/or post-mating reproductive isolation between sympatric host lineages, and speciation, by modifying host reproductive phenotypes. The large parasitoid wasp genus Cotesia (Braconidae) includes a diversity of cryptic species, each specialized in parasitizing one to few related Lepido...

Mud-puddling: A study of butterfly puddling sites in Catalonia Some butterflies and other insects acquire nutrients from puddles, stream banks, rotting fruit, carrion, excrement and even sweat. This behaviour, which is called mud-puddling, produces a calling effect generating butterfly clusters. It has been widely studied in tropical areas, however...

Glacial cycles lead to periodic population interbreeding and isolation in warm‐adapted species, which impact genetic structure and evolution. However, the effects of these processes on highly mobile and more cold‐tolerant species are not well understood. This study aims to shed light on the phylogeographic history of Aglais urticae , a butterfly sp...

Species niches may impact population and community stability by influencing average population sizes and species richness, however, niche-based approaches are rarely applied when studying stability in natural communities. Here we utilise a niche-based approach to link niche characteristics to community stability in 140 European butterfly communitie...

Aim: Intraspecific variation in species relative abundance is shaped by a complex interplay of abiotic and biotic factors, making it both necessary and challenging to assess their combined relative importance in explaining variations across space and time. We used two congeneric butterfly species for which extensive count data and a deep understand...

Background Maternally-inherited symbionts can induce pre-mating and/or post-mating reproductive isolation between sympatric host lineages, and speciation by modifying host reproductive phenotypes. The large parasitoid wasp genus Cotesia (Braconidae) includes a diversity of cryptic species, each specialized in parasitizing one to few related Lepidop...

Mountains harbour a disproportionate amount of biodiversity that is explained by both biotic and abiotic factors. Understanding the ultimate factors that shape these gradients including the interaction between trophic levels is important to highlight management practices that may help maintain biodiversity. Here we report an experiment carried out...

Distribution, ecology and conservation status of the twin-spot fritillary, Brenthis hecate, in Catalonia. The twin-spot fritillary (Brenthis hecate) is a specialist butterfly that depends on Fili-pendula vulgaris as a food plant. In this work, its distribution in Catalonia is updated and its ecology is explored in more detail based on the monitorin...

At large scales, the mechanisms underpinning stability in natural communities may vary in importance due to changes in species composition, mean abundance, and species richness. Here we link species characteristics (niche positions) and community characteristics (richness and abundance) to evaluate the importance of stability mechanisms in 156 butt...

Ecotones linking open and forested habitats contain multiple microhabitats with varying vegetal structures and microclimatic regimes. Ecotones host many insect species whose development is intimately linked to the microclimatic conditions where they grow (e.g., the leaves of their host plants and the surrounding air). Yet microclimatic heterogeneit...

Population and community dynamics of butterflies are relatively well known in Europe thanks to citizen science and academic efforts to cover large spatio–temporal scales. However, there are still gaps of knowledge about which life–history traits have a large influence on the dynamics of particular species and the ecological factors that influence t...

The decline of insect populations is of great concern because they play an essential part in several services that are key for ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Therefore, full understanding of the processes and factors shaping spatial variation in insects is required for their effective conservation. Here, we study a system comprising tw...

Understanding population responses to environmental conditions is key in the current context of climate change and the extreme climatic events that are threatening biodiversity in an unprecedented way. In this work, we provide a framework for understanding butterfly population responses to weather and extreme climatic seasons by taking into account...

López-Mañas et al. (1) raise concerns about our recent paper (2) documenting environmental drivers of annual variation in the abundance of immigrant painted ladies (Vanessa cardui) reaching southern Europe each spring. We address their concerns, and further suggest that the rationale behind their critique is predicated upon unrealistic assumptions.

Systematic surveys of two endangered species: review of the distribution and conservation status of Zegris eupheme and Boloria eunomia in Catalonia. The adaptation of the IUCN criteria for butterfly fauna in Catalonia has resulted in a list of 46 endangered species, the knowledge of whose biology and distribution is at best uneven. Of these species...

Although climate-driven phenological shifts have been documented for many taxa across the globe, we still lack knowledge of the consequences they have on populations. Here, we used a comprehensive database comprising 553 populations of 51 species of northwestern Mediterranean butterflies to investigate the relationship between phenology and populat...

Parasitism is a key factor in the population dynamics of many herbivorous insects, although its impact on host populations varies widely, for instance, along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. Understanding the sources of geographical variation in host–parasitoid interactions is crucial for reliably predicting the future success of the interact...

Climatic anomalies are increasing in intensity and frequency due to rapid rates of global change, leading to increased extinction risk for many species. The impacts of anomalies are likely to vary between species due to different degrees of sensitivity and extents of local adaptation. Here, we used long-term butterfly monitoring data of 143 species...

Context: Urbanisation is an environmental filter for many species that leads to community homogenisa-tion, with a few species inhabiting isolated patches (e.g. public and private gardens and parks) embedded within the urban landscape. Promoting biodiversity in urban areas requires understanding which species traits allow species to survive the urba...

The Biodiversity and Bioindicators research group (BiBIO), based at the Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, has coordinated four long-term faunal monitoring programmes based on citizen science over more than two decades in Catalonia (NE Spain). We summarize the historical progress of these programmes, describing their main conservation outputs,...

Significance The painted lady butterfly is an annual migrant to northern regions, but the size of the immigration varies by more than 100-fold in successive years. Unlike the monarch, the painted lady breeds year round, and it has long been suspected that plant-growing conditions in winter-breeding locations drive this high annual variability. Howe...

IntroductionBoth intensification and abandonment of traditional agricultural practices are known to be major threats to biodiversity worldwide. Land abandonment, in particular, has a negative effect on the diversity of both plant and insect communities, although few studies have analysed the effects on the interactions between both groups. Given th...

Lepidopteran‐active Bt‐toxins expressed in genetically modified (GM) maize events can adversely affect non‐target lepidopteran (NTL) species when larvae consume harmful amounts of Bt‐maize pollen deposited on their host plants. The briskaR‐NTL project, as commissioned by the European Food Safety Authority, aims to: (i) further develop a spatially‐e...

Context Urbanisation is an environmental filter for many species that leads to community homogenisation, with a few species inhabiting isolated patches (gardens) embedded in the urban landscape. Promoting biodiversity in urban areas requires understanding which and how species traits allow species to survive the urban landscape. Objectives The obj...

Climate and land use change can alter the incidence and strength of biotic interactions, with important effects on the distribution, abundance and function of species. To assess the importance of these effects and their dynamics, studies quantifying how biotic interactions change in space and time are needed. We studied interactions between nettle‐...

https://www.uab.cat/web/detalle-noticia/los-cambios-en-la-composicion-de-las-plantas-alteran-las-comunidades-de-polinizadores-y-la-polinizacion-1345680342040.html?noticiaid=1345830959700

In many migratory insects, migration occurs during the prereproductive phase of the life cycle. This trait probably arises from a trade-off between migration and reproduction and in females has been termed the ‘oogenesis–flight syndrome’. However, the generality of this syndrome has been questioned, especially for monomorphic insects. We studied th...

Explosions demogràfiques de l'eruga peluda del suro, Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus, 1758), als boscos del Montnegre el 2019 i 2020: possibles causes, impactes i idoneïtat dels tractaments per combatre la plaga Resum Després d'anys sense afectacions severes, l'eruga peluda del suro, Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus, 1758), ha defoliat grans superfícies de su...

In this report, we update the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, present new butterfly indicators for widespread species, woodland butterflies, as well as butterflies in urban environments, in Natura 2000 areas and as climate change indicators. The indicators use field data up to and including the 2018 field season. The method for calculating...

1. One very conspicuous sign that warming is affecting the ecology of butterflies are the phenological advances occurring in many species. Moreover, rising temperatures are having a notable impact-both negative and positive-on population abundances. To date, patterns have generally been analysed at species level without taking into account possible...

In many migratory insects, migration occurs during the pre-reproductive phase of the life cycle. This trait probably arises from a trade-off between migration and reproduction and in females has been termed as the oogenesis-flight syndrome. However, the generality of this syndrome has been questioned, especially for monomorphic insects. We studied...

Both the intensification and abandonment of traditional agricultural practices are known to be major threats to biodiversity worldwide, above all in industrialized countries. Although land abandonment in particular has a negative effect on the diversity of both plant and insect communities, few studies have ever analysed these two groups together a...

This report presents the proposal for an EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU-PoMS), based on the findings of an expert group of 21 people from 12 European countries. The EU-PoMS delivers of a cost-effective Core Scheme, which includes the most relevant taxa, is able to detect changes in the status of pollinators, has EU-wide coverage, and uses stan...

The European Union's Natura 2000 (N2000) is among the largest international networks of protected areas. One of its aims is to secure the status of a predetermined set of (targeted) bird and butterfly species. However, nontarget species may also benefit from N2000. We evaluated how the terrestrial component of this network affects the abundance of...

Ecological communities are dynamic entities subjected to extinction/colonization events. Because species are connected through complex interaction networks, the arrival of a new species is likely to affect various species across the community, as observed in plant biological invasions. However, plant invasions usually represent extreme scenarios in...

In recent decades, efforts have been made to understand how global warming affects biodiversity and in this regard butterflies have emerged as a model group. The most conspicuous sign that warming is affecting the ecology of butterflies are the phenological advances occurring in many species. Moreover, rising temperatures are having a notable impac...

Both intensification and abandonment of agriculture are known to be major threats to biodiversity worldwide, mainly in industrialized countries. Evidence exists that land abandonment, in particular, has a negative effect on the diversity of both plant and insect communities, although few studies combine the analysis of the two groups and none has y...

With the expansion of urban areas, promoting urban biodiversity is now a priority. Many municipalities are implementing greening strategies to improve and increase green space within city boundaries. The effectiveness of these strategies, while rarely assessed, likely depends on the landscape and on relevant species intrinsic traits such as dispers...

Aim Biotic interactions are an important factor structuring ecological communities but data scarcity limits our understanding of the impact of their response to climate and land use changes on communities. We studied the impact of a change in species assemblage on biotic interactions in a community of closely-related butterflies. Specifically, we e...

Vegetation cover generates local microclimatic gradients in the understorey, being especially pronounced at narrow ecotones linking open and forested habitats (open-closed ecotones). They provide key habitats for multiple insect communities and may largely determine the exposure of herbivorous insects to the increasing impacts of climate change. We...

Abstract Impacts of agricultural management practices on the receiving environment are seldom suitably assessed because environmental monitoring is costly. In this regard, data generated by already existing environmental survey networks (ESNs) may have sufficient capacity to detect effects. Here, we study the capacity of the Catalan butterfly monit...

Tradeoffs affect resource allocation during development and result in fitness consequences that drive the evolution of life history strategies. Yet despite their importance, we know little about the mechanisms underlying life history tradeoffs. Many species of Colias butterflies exhibit an alternative life history strategy (ALHS) where females dive...

Land abandonment and loss of grazing have been amongst the primary drivers of landscape change in the Mediterranean basin in the recent decades. As a consequence, forest cover has greatly expanded in detrimental of semi‐natural grasslands, areas of cultivation and pasture mosaics. Although predictably important, the impact that this phenomenon has...

Biological responses to climate change have been widely documented across taxa and regions, but it remains unclear whether species are maintaining a good match between phenotype and environment, i.e. whether observed trait changes are adaptive. Here we reviewed 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 studies reported in 58 relevant publications...

Large‐scale spatial variability in plant‐pollinator communities (e.g., along geographic gradients, across different landscapes) is relatively well understood. However, we know much less about how these communities vary at small scales within a uniform landscape. Plants are sessile and highly sensitive to microhabitat conditions, whereas pollinators...

A number of studies analysing the structure of butterfly communities on Mediterranean islands have confirmed the well-established pattern of a current decrease in species richness in island communities. However, these studies generally lack quantitative data on butterfly population densities across habitats and over time. This precludes testing the...

The climatic preferences of the species determine to a large extent their response to climate change. Temperature preferences have been shown to play a key role in driving trends in animal populations. However, the relative importance of temperature and precipitation preferences is still poorly understood, particularly in systems where ecological p...

Red Lists are very valuable tools in nature conservation at global, continental and (sub-) national scales. In an attempt to prioritise conservation actions for European butterflies, we compiled a database with species lists and Red Lists of all European countries, including the Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands). In tot...

In agro-ecosystems, environmental monitoring is fundamental to detect and survey changes related to land use change and management practices. Butterflies and moths have often been suggested as suitable indicators for monitoring environmental effects on biodiversity in farmlands. Here, we estimated the required sample size and monitoring effort nece...

Widespread population declines have been reported for diverse Mediterranean butterflies over the last three decades, and have been significantly associated with increased global change impacts. The specific landscape and climatic drivers of these declines remain uncertain for most declining species. Here, we analyse whether plastic phenotypic trait...

A pesar de que España es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de polinizadores silvestres y, que de su conservación depende el futuro de nuestros cultivos y por tanto de nuestra alimentación, lo cierto es que hoy día seguimos sin conocer el estado de conservación de gran parte de esta fauna, una demanda histórica de la sociedad cien- tífica que s...

Transect counts are one of the most popular approaches to assess and monitor butterfly diversity, especially with the background of biodiversity loss. This method was developed in Europe, but its transferability is seldom tested across the world. To assess transferability, we compared butterfly richness estimates based on transect counts in Spain,...

The exotic bee Megachile sculpturalis has colonized the European continent in the last decade, including some Mediterranean countries such as France and Italy. In summer 2018 it was recorded for the first time in Spain, from several sites in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). Here we give details on these first records and provide data on its biolog...

Colias butterflies (the "clouded sulphurs") often occur in mixed populations where females exhibit two color morphs, yellow/orange or white. White females, known as Alba [ A -], reallocate resources from colored pigment synthesis to reproductive and somatic development. Due to this tradeoff Alba females develop faster and have higher fecundity than...

Across a wide range of taxa, individuals within populations exhibit alternative life history strategies (ALHS) where their phenotypes dramatically differ due to divergent investments in growth, reproduction and survivorship, with the resulting trade-offs directly impacting Darwinian fitness. Though the maintenance of ALHS within populations is fair...

The increase in aridity, mainly by decreases in precipitation but also by higher temperatures, is likely the main threat to the diversity and survival of Mediterranean forests. Changes in land use, including the abandonment of extensive crop activities, mainly in mountains and remote areas, and the increases in human settlements and demand for more...

Habitat loss and fragmentation affect species richness in fragmented habitats and can lead to immediate or time-delayed species extinctions. Asynchronies in extinction and extinction debt between interacting species may have severe effects on ecological networks. However, these effects remain largely unknown. We evaluated the effects of habitat pat...

This technical report describes the collection of data for an assessment of the multivariate relationships between a group of parameters and the distribution of butterflies over Butterfly Monitoring Transects. The results can be used for the development of future scenarios to investigate the effects on biodiversity, and butterflies in particular.

Aim The aim was to assess the sensitivity of butterfly population dynamics to variation in weather conditions across their geographical ranges, relative to sensitivity to density dependence, and determine whether sensitivity is greater towards latitudinal range margins. Location Europe. Time period 1980–2014. Major taxa studied Butterflies. Met...