Urban insect communities in the Neotropics: a systematic literature review and a green path to promote biodiversity conservation

FENOGLIO, MARÍA SILVINA; GONZÁLEZ, EZEQUIEL; CALVIÑO, ANA; VIDELA, MARTIN

Insect decline and conservation in the neotropics

Springer

Año: 2024; p. 163 - 188

TheNeotropics, known for hosting several biodiversity hotspots, isparadoxically one of the most urbanized regions of the planet. Thecurrent global decline of insects is undoubtedly related tourbanization, but the effects of the fast neotropical urban growth oninsects are barely known. In this chapter, we performed a systematicliterature review of the studies on Neotropical urban insectcommunities. In addition, we used green roofs in central Argentina asa study case to highlight the value of green infrastructure forinsects. Weidentified and examined 155 articles, mostly observational fieldstudies evaluating the taxonomic diversity of terrestrial insects,and performed in the Chacoan region, with biodiversity hotspotsscarcely represented. Althoughthe number of studies per year has increased steadily in the last 20years, there are still gaps in understanding the main drivers leadingto changes in species diversity. Forestremnants, rivers and streams were the most studied urban green/blueinfrastructures.Despite other green spaces being poorly considered, we showed thatgreen roofs are valuable habitats for insect diversity conservation.Weconclude that moving from describing patterns of insect biodiversityin cities to using a more systemic approach is one of the main needsfor the Neotropical region.p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background: transparent }a:link { color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline }