Biology subjects

Zakardjian, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Zakardjian, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

AnthropInsect: a global database of insect traits and anthropogenic associations.

Insect research remains hindered by limited data availability and fragmented knowledge compared to other, better-documented taxonomic groups. Yet, both the macroecological and the insect research communities highlight the need to integrate large-scale ecological trait datasets for insects. Insects and humans are interconnected through diverse relationships, ranging from beneficial interactions, such as the use of insects as nutritional resources, to adverse impacts, including their role in to the emergence and spread of biological invasions. Understanding the traits of insects associated with human use, movement and impact is therefore important for linking insects to ecosystem function and global change. We present AnthropInsect, one of the largest database on insect traits to date, which uniquely includes variables describing human-insect associations. AnthropInsect describes species through 35 variables grouped into five categories: (i) taxonomic descriptors; (ii) ecological descriptors (native bioregions and habitat); (iii) human-insect associations (edibility and invasive status); (iv) functional traits (behavior, morphology, life history and feeding); (v) and macroecological descriptors of native-range geography and climate. AnthropInsect currently includes 5867 species across six major orders: Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera and Blattodea. Data extracted from peer-reviewed, grey literature and from existing databases were standardized and validated with expert knowledge to ensure accuracy. By providing traits data with information on insect-human interactions, this rigorously curated resource supports global research in entomology, ecology, conservation, and global change.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Contrasted effect of climate and anthropogenic change on future invasion risk of a solitary bee Amegilla pulchra

Amegilla pulchra is a solitary bee from Australia that has recently been spread throughout many islands of the Pacific. The non-regulated human-driven spread of the species may affect the local pollinator communities and their interactions with host plants. We used an ecological niche modelling approach, accounting for non-equilibrium and anthropogenic spread with the most recently recommended approach, and predicted the potential spread of the species under current and future conditions. We expected climate change and increase in human density to offer new suitable environments for the spread of the species. Invasion risks will increase in the future overall, but more in the non-native regions compared to the native region. In the native region, the projected effect of future environmental change was highly contrasted, with increasing invasion risk in human-dense areas but decreasing elsewhere. We found high risks of invasion in eastern Asia and provided a world ranking of entry points for surveillance priority which accounts for maritime traffic. This study highlights potential contrasted effects between climate and anthropogenic change, with differing projections between the native and the non-native regions. Public awareness and prevention will be the key to prevent further spread and mitigate potential adverse effects of the species on island systems. In regions that are already invaded, we propose that habitat restoration is a promising strategy for both the mitigation of the spread and the conservation of local communities.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Urbanisation impacts the diversity, coloration, and body size of wild bees in a Mediterranean city

Urbanisation is a growing phenomenon causing the decline of wild bees globally. Yet, bees manage to persist in the urban matrix thanks to islands of vegetation in public parks and private gardens. While we begin to comprehend the impact of urbanisation on bees diversity and abundance, our understanding of its impact on the functional diversity of wild bees is limited. Here, we use an integrative approach to investigate the response of wild bees to urbanisation at the community, species, and individual levels. To do so, we sampled wild bees in 24 public parks along an urbanisation gradient in the Mediterranean city of Marseille. We found that species richness and abundance decreased in more urbanised areas, but increased in larger city parks. Moreover, larger individuals within species, but not larger species, were found in larger city parks, suggesting that park size is crucial for the persistence of bees in cities. Interestingly, we show that brighter species were found in parks surrounded by a large amount of impervious surface, highlighting the importance of colour traits in the response to environmental changes. Finally, our results revealed that larger species, but not larger individuals, were also more colourful. In summary, our study not only confirmed that urbanisation negatively impacts community-level traits, but that it also affects species coloration and individuals body size, thus improving our understanding of the functional response of wild bees to urbanisation. We suggest that increasing park size may compensate for the negative effects of urbanisation on wild bees.

ecology↗