@article {21983, title = {How has the environment shaped geographical patterns of insect body sizes? A test of hypotheses using sphingid moths}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {46}, year = {2019}, month = {07/2019}, pages = {1687-1698}, chapter = {1687}, abstract = {

\"Aim: We mapped the geographical pattern of body sizes in sphingid moths and investigated latitudinal clines. We tested hypotheses concerning their possible environmental control, that is, effects of temperature (negative: temperature size rule or Bergmann\&$\#$39;s rule; positive: converse Bergmann rule), food availability, robustness to starvation during extreme weather and seasonality.
Location: Old World and Australia/Pacific region.
Methods: Body size data of 950 sphingid species were compiled and related to their distribution maps. Focusing on body length, we mapped the median and maximum size of all species occurring in 100 km grid cells. In a comparative approach, we tested the predictions from explanatory hypotheses by correlating species\&$\#$39; size to the average environmental conditions encountered throughout their range, under univariate and multivariate models. We accounted for phylogeny by stepwise inclusion of phylogenetically informed taxonomic classifications into hierarchical random-intercept mixed models.
Results: Median body sizes showed a distinctive geographical pattern, with large species in the Middle East and the Asian tropics, and smaller species in temperate regions and the Afrotropics. Absolute latitude explained very little body size variation, but there was a latitudinal cline of maximum size. Species\&$\#$39; median size was correlated with net primary productivity, supporting the food availability hypothesis, whereas support for other hypotheses was weak. Environmental correlations contributed much less (i.e. \<10\%) to explaining overall size variation than phylogeny (inclusion of which led to models explaining \>70\% of variability).
Main conclusion: The intuitive impression of larger species in the tropics is shaped by larger size maxima. Median body sizes are only very weakly related to latitude. Most of the geographical variation in body size in sphingid moths is explained by their phylogenetic past. NPP and forest cover correlate positively with the body size, which supports the idea that food availability allowed the evolution of larger sizes.\"

}, keywords = {BERGMANN{\textquoteright}S RULE, BODY SIZE, ECTOTHERMS, MODELS, PHYLOGENY, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1111/jbi.13583}, url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13583}, author = {Beerli, N. and B{\"a}rtschi, F. and Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Kitching, I.J. and Beck, J.} } @article {21922, title = {Elevational richness patterns of sphingid moths support area effects over climatic drivers in a near-global analysis}, journal = {Global Ecology and Biogeography}, volume = {28}, year = {2019}, month = {06/2019}, pages = {917-927}, chapter = {917}, abstract = {

\"Aim: We test hypotheses on the environmental control of elevational richness patterns of sphingid moths for their global applicability and generality. Specifically, we compare effects of area with climate-related drivers, such as primary productivity and temperature, while also considering direct effects of precipitation.
Major taxa: Sphingid moths (Lepidoptera).
Location: Eighty-six mountain ranges of the Old World and the Australia/Pacific region, from Scandinavia and Siberia through the African and Australasian tropics to South Africa and Southern Australia.
Methods: We used a large compilation of point locality records for 744 species, in addition to fine-grained range maps derived from species distribution modelling of these records, to characterize the elevational pattern of species richness in 86 custom-delineated mountain regions. For both types of data, we compared the effects of environmental drivers on richness by comparing standardized coefficients of multivariate models for pooled data after accounting for between-region variation in richness.
Results: We observed varying patterns of elevational richness across the research region, with a higher prevalence of midpeaks in arid regions. We found overwhelming support for area as a main determinant of richness, modulated by temperature and productivity, whereas we detected no effect of precipitation.
Main conclusions: Area, productivity and temperature are the main environmental predictors explaining a large proportion of variability in sphingid richness. This is consistent not only with other elevational studies, but also with empirical and theoretical biodiversity research in a non-elevational context (with the caveat of some unresolved issues in elevational area effects). However, distinct differences in elevational patterns remain even within the same mountain ranges when comparing with other Lepidoptera, that is, geometrid moths, which highlights the importance of understanding higher clade differentiation in ecological responses, within insects and in other groups.\"

}, keywords = {ALTITUDINAL DISTRIBUTION, BIOGEOGRAPHY, DIVERSITY, PRODUCTIVITY, SPHINGIDAE, TEMPERATURE}, doi = {10.1111/geb.12903}, url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.12903}, author = {B{\"a}rtschi, F. and McCain, C.M. and Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Kitching, I.J. and Beerli, N. and Beck, J.} } @article {21857, title = {Field sampling is biased against small-ranged species of high conservation value: a case study on the sphingid moths of East Africa}, journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation}, volume = {27}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, pages = {3533-3544}, chapter = {3533}, abstract = {

\"The range size of species co-occurring in local assemblages is a pivotal variable in assessments of a site\’s conservation value. Assemblages featuring many small-ranged species are given more priority than assemblages consisting mainly of wide-ranging species. However, the assembly of relevant information can be challenging and local range size distributions of tropical invertebrates are rarely available for conservation planning. We present such data for sphingid moths in East Africa, a highly diverse region of high conservation value. We compare geographic range size distributions based on field samples with\  predictions from modelled range map data. Using this system as a case study, we provide evidence for a systematic sampling bias when inferring average local range sizes from field data. Unseen species (i.e., species present but missed in local sampling) are often those with small ranges (hence, of high conservation value). Using an elevational gradient, we illustrate how this bias can lead to false, counterintuitive assessments of environmental effects on local range size distributions. Furthermore, with particular reference to sphingid moths in the study region, we show that current protected areas appear unrelated to the spatial distribution of species richness or average geographic range sizes at a local scale. We discuss the need to treat field sampled data with caution and in concert with other data sources such as probabilistic models.\"

}, keywords = {BIODIVERSITY, DISTRIBUTION, RANGE SIZE, SAMPLING, SPHINGIDAE, TANZANIA, UNDERSAMPLING, ZAMBIA}, doi = {10.1007/s10531-018-1613-z}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1613-z}, author = {Beck, J. and Takano, H. and Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Kitching, I.J. and McCain, C.M.} } @article {21637, title = {How climatic variability is linked to the spatial distribution of range sizes: seasonality versus climate change velocity in sphingid moths}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {44}, year = {2017}, month = {10/2017}, pages = {2441-2450}, chapter = {2441}, abstract = {

\"Aim: To map the spatial variation of range sizes within sphingid moths, and to test hypotheses on its environmental control. In particular, we investigate effects of climate change velocity since the Pleistocene and the mid-Holocene, temperature and precipitation seasonality, topography, Pleistocene ice cover, and\  available land area.

Location: Old World and Australasia, excluding smaller islands.

Methods: We used fine-grained range maps (based on expert-edited\  distribution modelling) for all 972 sphingid moth species in the research region and calculated, at a grain size of 100 km, the median of range sizes of all\  species that co-occur in a pixel. Climate, topography and Pleistocene ice cover data were taken from publicly available sources. We calculated climate change\  velocities (CCV) for the last 21 kyr as well as 6 kyr. We compared the effects of seasonality and CCV on median range sizes with spatially explicit models while\  accounting for effects of elevation range, glaciation history and available land area.

Results: Range sizes show a clear spatial pattern, with highest median values in deserts and arctic regions and lowest values in isolated tropical regions.\  Range sizes were only weakly related to absolute latitude (predicted by Rapoport\’s effect), but there was a strong north-south pattern of range size decline.\  Temperature seasonality emerged as the strongest environmental correlate of median range size, in univariate as well as multivariate models, whereas effects\  of CCV were weak and unstable for both time periods. These results were robust to variations in the parameters in alternative analyses, among them multivariate CCV.

Main conclusions: Temperature seasonality is a strong correlate of spatial range size variation, while effects of longer-term temperature change, as captured by CCV, received much weaker support.\"

}, keywords = {CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE VELOCITY, ECOLOGY, RANGE SIZE, RAPOPORT EFFECT, SEASONALITY, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1111/jbi.13051}, author = {Gr{\"u}nig, M. and Beerli, N. and Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Kitching, I.J. and Beck, J.} } @article {21166, title = {Putting insects on the map: near-global variation in sphingid moth richness along spatial and environmental gradients}, journal = {Ecography}, volume = {40}, year = {2017}, month = {05/2017}, pages = {698-708}, chapter = {698}, abstract = {

\"Despite their vast diversity and vital ecological role, insects are notoriously underrepresented in biogeography and conservation, and key broad-scale ecological hypotheses about them remain untested \– largely due to generally incomplete and very coarse spatial distribution knowledge. Integrating records from publications, field work and natural history collections, we used a mixture of species distribution models and expert estimates to provide geographic distributions and emergent richness patterns for all ca. 1,000 sphingid moth species found outside the Americas in high spatial detail. Total sphingid moth richness, the first for a higher insect group to be documented at this scale, shows distinct maxima in the wet tropics of Africa and the Oriental with notable decay toward Australasia.

Using multivariate models controlling for spatial autocorrelation, we found that primary productivity is the dominant environmental variable associated with moth richness, while temperature, contrary to our predictions, is an unexpectedly weak predictor. This is in stark contrast to the importance we identify for temperature as a niche variable of individual species. Despite divergent life histories, both main sub-groups of moths exhibit these relationships. Tribal-level deconstruction of richness and climatic niche patterns indicate idiosyncratic effects of biogeographic history for some of the less species-rich tribes, which in some cases exhibit distinct richness peaks away from the tropics. The study confirms, for a diverse insect group, overall richness associations of remarkable similarity to those documented for vertebrates and highlights the significant within-taxon structure that underpins emergent macroecological patterns. Results do not, however, meet predictions from vertebrate-derived hypotheses on how thermoregulation affects the strength of temperature-richness effects. Our study thus broadens the taxonomic focus in this data-deficient discourse.

Our procedures of processing incomplete, scattered distribution data are a template for application to other taxa and regions.\"

}, keywords = {BIOGEOGRAPHY, ECOLOGY, GRAIN SIZE, MODELS, NICHE BREADTH, RANGE SIZE, RICHNESS, SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELLING, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1111/ecog.02438}, author = {Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Kitching, I.J. and Jetz, W. and Beck, J.} } @article {21048, title = {Explaining the elevational diversity pattern of geometrid moths from Borneo: a test of five hypotheses}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {35}, year = {2008}, pages = {1452-1464}, chapter = {1452}, keywords = {ALTITUDINAL DISTRIBUTION, BORNEO, DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, FAUNAL OVERLAP, GEOMETRIDAE, MALAYSIA, MID-DOMAIN EFFECT, SPATIAL REGRESSION, WATER-ENERGY DYNAMICS}, doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01886.x}, author = {Beck, J. and Chey, V.K.} } @article {21048, title = {Beta-diversity of geometrid moths from northern Borneo: effects of habitat, time and space}, journal = {Journal of Animal Ecology}, volume = {76}, year = {2007}, pages = {230-237}, chapter = {230}, keywords = {ALTITUDINAL DISTRIBUTION, BETA DIVERSITY, BORNEO, DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, GEOMETRIDAE, HABITAT DISTURBANCE, MALAYSIA, SPECIES TURNOVER}, doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01189.x}, author = {Beck, J. and Chey, V.K.} } @article {19358, title = {Diversity and abundance patterns, and revised checklist, of saturniid moths from Borneo (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)}, journal = {Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo (N.F.)}, volume = {28}, year = {2008}, note = {N.F.}, month = {2008}, pages = {155-164}, keywords = {ADULT FEEDING, BORNEO, DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, HABITAT DISTURBANCE, SATURNIIDAE, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, author = {N{\"a}ssig, W. A. and Beck, J.} } @article {18786, title = {Estimating regional species richness of tropical insects from museum data: a comparison of a geography-based and sample-based methods}, journal = {Journal of Applied Ecology}, volume = {???}, year = {2007}, month = {2007}, pages = {???-???}, keywords = {BIODIVERSITY, GIS, INCOMPLETE, LEPIDOPTERA, RICHNESS, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE, WS2M}, author = {Kitching, I. J. and Beck, J.} } @article {16816, title = {Correlates of range size and dispersal ability: a comparative analysis of sphingid moths from the Indo-Australian tropics}, journal = {Global Ecology and Biogeography}, volume = {16}, year = {2007}, month = {2007}, pages = {341-349}, keywords = {BIOGEOGRAPHY, DISPERSION, FOODPLANT SPECIFICITY, LIFE HISTORY, NICHE BREADTH, RANGE SIZE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE, WING LOADING}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J.} } @article {16817, title = {The latitudinal distribution of sphingid species richness in continental Southeast Asia: what causes the biodiversity {\textquoteright}hotspot{\textquoteright} in northern Thailand?}, journal = {Raffles Bulletin of Zoology}, volume = {55}, year = {2007}, month = {2007}, pages = {179-185}, keywords = {BIODIVERSITY, BIOGEOGRAPHY, HOTSPOTS, PENINSULA EFFECT, RANGE SIZE, RICHNESS, SAMPLING, SPHINGIDAE, THAILAND}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Haxaire, J.} } @article {16818, title = {Effects of habitat disturbance can be subtle yet significant: biodiversity of hawkmoth-assemblages (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in Southeast-Asia}, journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation}, volume = {15}, year = {2006}, note = {DOI 10.1007/s10531-005-0306-6; ; ;}, month = {2006}, pages = {465-486}, keywords = {BIODIVERSITY, BORNEO, COMMUNITY STRUCTURE, DIVERSITY, HABITAT DISTURBANCE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Linsenmair, K. E.} } @article {16819, title = {Measuring range sizes of South-East Asian hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae): effects of scale, resolution and phylogeny}, journal = {Global Ecology and Biogeography}, volume = {??}, year = {2006}, note = {DOI: 10.1111/j.1466.822x.2006.00230.x; ; ;}, month = {2006}, pages = {???-???}, keywords = {GIS, PHYLOGENY, RANGE SIZE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Linsenmair, K. E.} } @article {16820, title = {Determinants of regional species richness: an empirical analysis of the number of hawkmoth species (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) on the Malesian archipelago}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {33}, year = {2006}, note = {DOI: 10.1111/j.1365.2699.2005.01418.x; ; ;}, month = {2006}, pages = {694-706}, keywords = {DIVERSITY, GENERAL LINEAR MODEL, GIS, ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY, RANGE SIZE, RICHNESS, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Linsenmair, K. E.} } @article {16821, title = {Extending the study of range-abundance relations to tropical insects: sphingid moths in Southeast Asia}, journal = {Evolutionary Ecology Research}, volume = {8}, year = {2006}, month = {2006}, pages = {677-690}, keywords = {ABUNDANCE, DISTRIBUTION, ECOLOGY, HABITAT DISTURBANCE, RANGE SIZE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Linsenmair, K. E.} } @article {16822, title = {Diet breadth and host plant relationships of Southeast-Asian sphingid caterpillars}, journal = {Ecotropica}, volume = {12}, year = {2006}, month = {2006}, pages = {1-13}, keywords = {FOODPLANT EVOLUTION, FOODPLANT SPECIFICITY, PHYLOGENY, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Linsenmair, K. E.} } @article {16823, title = {Wallace{\textquoteright}s line revisited: has vicariance or dispersal shaped the distribution of Malesian hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)?}, journal = {Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London}, volume = {89}, year = {2006}, month = {2006}, pages = {455-468}, keywords = {BIODIVERSITY, BIOGEOGRAPHY, DISPERSALISM, PRESTON CoeFFICIENT, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE, VICARIANCE, WALLACE{\textquoteright}S LINE}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J. and Linsenmair, K. E.} } @article {16814, title = {Online solutions and the {\textquoteright}Wallacean shortfall{\textquoteright}: what does GBIF contribute to our knowledge of species{\textquoteright} ranges?}, journal = {Diversity and Distributions}, volume = {19}, year = {2013}, month = {2013}, pages = {1043-1050}, keywords = {COLLECTIONS, DISTRIBUTION, GBIF, MODELS, MUSEUM, NICHE BREADTH, RANGE SIZE, SAMPLING, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Beck, J. and Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Nagel, P. and Kitching, I. J.} } @booklet {16815, title = {Untitled}, year = {2006}, month = {2006}, keywords = {BIODIVERSITY, CATE DIAGNOSIS, CHECKLIST, DISTRIBUTION, ECOLOGY, GIS, SOUTHEAST ASIA, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, author = {Beck, J. and Kitching, I. J.} } @article {16736, title = {Projecting the potential invasion of the Pink Spotted Hawkmoth ({IAgrius cingulata}) across Africa}, journal = {International Journal of Pest Management}, volume = {57}, year = {2011}, month = {2011}, pages = {153-159}, keywords = {AFRICA, AGRIUS, BIOMOD, ECOLOGY, INVASIVE SPECIES, MAXENT, NICHE BREADTH, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, author = {Ballesteros-Mejia, L. and Kitching, I. J. and Beck, J.} }