Spatio-Temporal Variation in Aerial Arthropod Abundance Revealed by Weather Radars

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Biodiversity Monitoring

Background:

• Widespread arthropod declines are reported, but large-scale data on generality and drivers are lacking.
• Assessing aerial arthropod populations requires robust, large-scale monitoring methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify aerial arthropod abundance across the UK using meteorological radar data.
• To investigate spatial heterogeneity and environmental drivers of diurnal and nocturnal arthropod populations.
• To demonstrate the utility of weather radar for large-scale biodiversity assessment.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel dataset of atmospheric scans from meteorological radars across the UK (2014-2021).
• Quantified aerial arthropod abundance at 500-700m above ground for diurnal and nocturnal periods.
• Analyzed spatial patterns and relationships with land cover types and artificial light intensity.

Main Results:

• Estimated 1.12 × 10^13 diurnal and 5.02 × 10^12 nocturnal arthropods flying over the UK.
• Observed significant spatial heterogeneity, with increases in the south and declines in the north.
• Nocturnal arthropods showed an overall decline; both types positively correlated with woodland/grassland/urban areas and negatively with arable land/light intensity.

Conclusions:

• Weather radar is a powerful tool for quantifying aerial arthropod abundance and activity patterns at large scales.
• Spatial variation is crucial for understanding temporal biodiversity trends.
• Comparative studies of diurnal and nocturnal arthropods are essential for comprehensive biodiversity monitoring.