Most insect communities are composed of evolutionarily diverse lineages, but detailed phylogenetic analyses of whole communities are lacking, in particular in species-rich tropical faunas. Likewise, our knowledge of the Tree-of-Life to document evolutionary diversity of organisms remains highly incomplete and especially requires the inclusion of unstudied lineages from species-rich ecosystems. Here we present the SITE-100 program, which is an attempt at building the Tree-of-Life from whole-community sampling of high-biodiversity sites around the globe. Combining the local site-based sets into a global tree produces an increasingly comprehensive estimate of organismal phylogeny, while also re-tracing evolutionary history of lineages constituting the local community. Local sets are collected in bulk in standardized passive traps and imaged with large-scale high-resolution cameras, which is followed by a parataxonomy step for the preliminary separation of morphospecies and selection of specimens for phylogenetic analysis. Selected specimens are used for individual DNA extraction and sequencing, usually to sequence mitochondrial genomes. All remaining specimens are bulk extracted and subjected to metabarcoding. Phylogenetic analysis on the mitogenomes produces a reference tree to which short barcode sequences are added in a secondary analysis using phylogenetic placement methods or backbone constrained tree searches. However, the approach may be hampered because (1) mitogenomes are limited in phylogenetic informativeness, and (2) site-based sampling may produce poor taxon coverage which causes challenges for phylogenetic inference. To mitigate these problems, we first assemble nuclear shotgun data from taxonomically chosen lineages to resolve the base of the tree, and add site-based mitogenome and DNA barcode data in three hierarchical steps. We posit that site-based sampling, though not meeting the criterion of “taxon-completeness,” has great merits given preliminary studies showing representativeness and evenness of taxa sampled. We therefore argue in favor of site-based sampling as an unorthodox but logistically efficient way to construct large phylogenetic trees.

Pitfall traps are commonly used for the collection of terrestrial insects in ecology and biology studies; they are relatively straightforward to manufacture and there is a large variety of models described in the literature. However, they present a few drawbacks: (i) the removal and transport of the collected material are not practical; (ii) they have low resistance and durability; (iii) they fail to correctly protect the attractive bait against adverse weather conditions and scavengers, and (iv) evaporation of the liquid used inside the trap. We proposed an optimized pitfall trap design for terrestrial insect collection made from cheap and easily accessible materials. The new design allows the transfer of the collected material to the lab by removing only that part of the trap where the insects have been captured; the other part remains in its original place. Thus, the proposed trap allows easier operation since there is no need to transport water to replenish the traps after each transfer; in addition, there is less volume and weight to be carried. The trap can remain in the field for months because of the durability of its material. Furthermore, the collected material is better protected against adverse weather conditions and scavengers. Currently, an efficient and rapid sampling strategy in the field is of global interest to understand mechanisms that can contribute to the monitor changes in phenology, succession, and biodiversity.

Keil, Petr; Jetz, Walter Yale Univ, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, New Haven, CT 06520 USA. Keil, Petr; Storch, David Ctr Theoret Study, Prague 11000 1, Czech Republic. Storch, David Charles Univ Prague, Fac Sci, Dept Ecol, CR-12844 Prague 2, Czech Republic.

Benchmark studies of insect populations are increasingly relevant and needed amid accelerating concern about insect trends in the Anthropocene. The growing recognition that insect populations may be in decline has given rise to a renewed call for insect population monitoring by scientists, and a desire from the broader public to participate in insect surveys. However, due to the immense diversity of insects and a vast assortment of data collection methods, there is a general lack of standardization in insect monitoring methods, such that a sudden and unplanned expansion of data collection may fail to meet its ecological potential or conservation needs without a coordinated focus on standards and best practices. To begin to address this problem, we provide simple guidelines for maximizing return on proven inventory methods that will provide insect benchmarking data suitable for a variety of ecological responses, including occurrence and distribution, phenology, abundance and biomass, and diversity and species composition. To track these responses, we present seven primary insect sampling methods—malaise trapping, light trapping, pan trapping, pitfall trappings, beating sheets, acoustic monitoring, and active visual surveys—and recommend standards while highlighting examples of model programs. For each method, we discuss key topics such as recommended spatial and temporal scales of sampling, important metadata to track, and degree of replication needed to produce rigorous estimates of ecological responses. We additionally suggest protocols for scalable insect monitoring, from backyards to national parks. Overall, we aim to compile a resource that can be used by diverse individuals and organizations seeking to initiate or improve insect monitoring programs in this era of rapid change.

Scenarios of changes in biodiversity for the year 2100 can now be developed based on scenarios of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate, vegetation, and land use and the known sensitivity of biodiversity to these changes. This study identified a ranking of the importance of drivers of change, a ranking of the biomes with respect to expected changes, and the major sources of uncertainties. For terrestrial ecosystems, land-use change probably will have the largest effect, followed by climate change, nitrogen deposition, biotic exchange, and elevated carbon dioxide concentration. For freshwater ecosystems, biotic exchange is much more important. Mediterranean climate and grassland ecosystems likely will experience the greatest proportional change in biodiversity because of the substantial influence of all drivers of biodiversity change. Northern temperate ecosystems are estimated to experience the least biodiversity change because major land-use change has already occurred. Plausible changes in biodiversity in other biomes depend on interactions among the causes of biodiversity change. These interactions represent one of the largest uncertainties in projections of future biodiversity change.

We based the dataset in this paper on the beetle collection from the sample site of Tei Tong Tsai (Hong Kong) from 1 May to 28 May 2019, a period of high insect diversity. A total of 16,270 beetles (photographed in 318 images) from 478 species belonging to 39 families were collected. The dataset consists of the following components: The original photo of the whole sample obtained at each site with each collection method, the morphological species identification chart, a statistical table describing the species and numbers of beetles collected on different dates at different sites using three passive acquisition methods, and a statistical table describing the longitude, latitude, and altitude information of each sampling point. We aimed to provide a database for the evaluation of beetle species diversity in Hong Kong and a paradigm for the effectiveness of passive acquisition in the beetle collection through the three representative methods, thus laying a foundation for biodiversity research.© 2022. The Author(s).