Biodiversity trends in apex insect predators: what’s happening to the wasps?

Insect declines are one of the most concerning aspects of the biodiversity crisis, with a global average decline of terrestrial insects of ~9% per decade already observed. Understanding drivers of declines is imperative to slow them and prevent the loss of these vital organisms. Research to date has been on the more charismatic groups, e.g. bees, butterflies, revealing land-use change, climate change and chemical pollutants as key drivers of decline. Whilst these same drivers are likely affecting other insect taxa, it is not clear to what extent these findings widely relevant. The student will address this critical knowledge gap, using wasps as a model system. Wasps are a critical part of ecosystems, as predators and parasitoids they regulate insect populations making them important agents of biocontrol; they are also pollinators and nutrient recyclers. Despite their importance, little is known about their status.

To what extent are wasps winners or losers in the Anthropocene? How are populations changing across time and in space? What are major drivers of change? The student will address these questions by exploiting various sources of insect data including citizen science and museum data. Through the development of highly sought after skills in data processing and statistical modelling approaches (including occupancy modelling, GLMMs, or species distribution modelling), alongside traits-based approaches, the patterns and responses of wasp biodiversity will be established.