One of the best documented effects of climate change on biodiversity are shifts in phenology. However, long-term data quantifying and projecting the expected changes in phenology associated with climate warming are limited to a few well-recorded areas in the world. In the absence of temporal recording, an alternative approach is to determine the phenological response of species along marked gradients in climate or along latitudinal or altitudinal transects (space-for-time substitution). We studied the phenology (timing and duration of the flight period) of butterflies in 2006 along an altitudinal gradient (900-1680 m; estimated temperature lapse rate = -6.6°C/km) in the Serranía de Cuenca (central Spain) at the assemblage and individual species levels. Timing of the flight period was later for assemblages at high than at low altitudes. A similar trend of an increasing delay in the flight period with altitude was recorded for some individual species. However, there were also some exceptions to this pattern regardless of the number of sites and the altitudinal ranges of the species, suggesting possible local adaptation to regional climate. The duration of the flight period was shorter at high altitudes for assemblages, but this trend was not mirrored in the response of individual species. The results partly support substituting space-for-time when assessing the potential effect of climate change on phenophases such as the timing of the flight period, but we recommend extreme caution in extrapolating the results in the absence of information on how the responses of populations differ. and Juan Ignacio De Arce Crespo, David Gutiérrez.
1_The maritime pine bast scale, Matsucoccus feytaudi Ducasse (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae), occurs in the western part of the Mediterranean basin and is a sap sucking insect that feeds only on maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton). It causes damage in SE France and Italy, where it was accidentally introduced. In Spain information is scarce and, moreover, almost nothing is known about the predators of this species. This study was designed to determine the seasonal trends in abundance of M. feytaudi and its major predators, which might help to improve the biological control of this pest in other areas. Natural P. pinaster stands in the Valencian Community (Spain) were surveyed in 2004. In addition, the seasonal trends in abundance of M. feytaudi and its natural enemies were monitored in three stands over a period of three years (2002, 2005 and 2006). The monitoring was carried by wrapping sticky tapes around tree trunks and using delta traps baited with sexual pheromone. The maritime pine bast scale was detected in all the stands surveyed. At almost all the sites surveyed, three species of predators were captured: Elatophilus nigricornis Zetterstedt (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), Hemerobius stigma Stephens (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) and Malachiomimus pectinatus (Kiesenwetter) (Coleoptera: Malachiidae). The presence of M. pectinatus is noteworthy as this is the first record of this species as a possible predator of M. feytaudi. The results show that M. feytaudi, although differing in its phenology depending on the location, is univoltine in the study area. The prepupae, pupae and adults of M. feytaudi appeared between December and March in colder areas and between October and February in warmer areas. E. nigricornis nymphs are important predators of M. feytaudi, and were abundant when the scale insect (crawlers, prepupae, pupae, male and female adults) was present., 2_The flight period of E. nigricornis and the hemerobiid H. stigma ranged from May to October. However, these flight patterns did not correlate with the presence of the different stages of the bast scale (crawlers, prepupae, pupae, male and female adults) on the surface of tree trunks. The presence of M. pectinatus in large numbers in some stands suggests it might be an important natural regulator, which helps to keep M. feytaudi populations at low densities in the areas of Spain studied. This malachiid shows a strong kairomonal attraction to the sexual pheromone of M. feytaudi and its flight activity is significantly correlated with the presence of crawlers of bast scale., Eugenia Rodrigo ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury