A roadmap for ladybird conservation and recovery
António O. Soares, Danny Haelewaters, Olga M. C. C. Ameixa, Isabel Borges, Peter Brown, Pedro Cardoso, Michiel D. de Groot, Edward W. Evans, Audrey A. Grez, Axel Hochkirch, Milada Holecová, Alois Honěk, Ján Kulfan, Ana I. Lillebø, Zdeňka Martinková, J. P. Michaud, Oldřich Nedvěd, Omkar, Helen E. Roy, Swati Saxena, Apoorva Shandilya, Arnaud Sentis, Jiří Skuhrovec, Sandra Viglašová, Peter Zach, Tania Zaviezo, John E. Losey
Abstract
Ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) provide services that are critical to food production, and they fulfill an ecological role as a food source for predators. The richness, abundance, and distribution of ladybirds, however, are compromised by many anthropogenic threats. Meanwhile, a lack of knowledge of the conservation status of most species and the factors driving their population dynamics hinders the development and implementation of conservation strategies for ladybirds. We conducted a review of the literature on the ecology, diversity, and conservation of ladybirds to identify their key ecological threats. Ladybird populations are most affected by climate factors, landscape composition, and biological invasions. We suggest mitigating actions for ladybird conservation and recovery. Short-term actions include citizen science programs and education, protective measures for habitat recovery and threatened species, prevention of the introduction of non-native species, and the maintenance and restoration of natural areas and landscape heterogeneity. Mid-term actions involve the analysis of data from monitoring programs and insect collections to disentangle the effect of different threats to ladybird populations, understand habitat use by taxa on which there is limited knowledge, and quantify temporal trends of abundance, diversity, and biomass along a management-intensity gradient. Long-term actions include the development of a worldwide monitoring program based on standardized sampling to fill data gaps, increase explanatory power, streamline analyses, and facilitate global collaborations.