2023-09-22 12:36:25
The dragon-fly Trithemis kirbyi has recently colonized the Iberian Peninsula from North Africa. Since its first record in Malaga in 2007, this dragonfly has been spreading northwards, establishing itself in central and eastern Iberia, the Balearic Islands and the south of France.
Last year, this dragonfly was spotted in Belgium. Despite its global distribution, its rapid colonization of the western Mediterranean area has occurred very recently. That this colonization has been precisely in recent years, when the ttemperatures break recordsmade researchers suspect that climate change could be influencing this process.
Despite its global distribution, its rapid colonization of the western Mediterranean area has occurred very recently.
A study carried out by biologists from the Complutense University of Madrid has evaluated whether the colonization of the western Mediterranean by this dragonfly is related to climate change and increased temperatures. And more specifically with the anomalous maximum summer warming that has occurred in the last decade. The results have been published in the journal Plos ONE.
The work has also studied which climatic variables have most influenced the distribution of this insect, its dispersion throughout our territory, and its potential future capacity for dispersion and colonization towards the eastern Mediterranean.
Dispersion due to increased temperatures
UCM researchers have found that the dispersal and recent establishment of T. kirbyi depends strongly on the increase in temperatures, in particular summer temperature peakswhich has allowed this species to disperse further and more effectively than during years with average summer temperatures.
They point out that the most important variable in suitability models and that most influences the species is the minimum temperature of the coldest month, which in recent decades has become a less limiting factor for ectotherms, such as insects. Climate change favors this species and has led to the colonization of our territory.
The results indicate that the dragonfly finds suitable areas throughout the eastern Mediterranean part of Europe, and it is likely that it can colonize them naturally, as it already did in the Iberian Peninsula.
The results of the work indicate that the dragonfly finds suitable areas throughout the eastern Mediterranean part of Europe, and it is likely that it can colonize them naturally, as it already did in the Iberian Peninsula.
Trithemis kirbyi is a model of how climate change and rising temperatures have turned previously inhospitable regions into ideal areas for exotic speciess, which can successfully colonize them naturally if they manage to reach these “promising lands” on their own, the authors conclude.
Reference:
Diego Gil Tapetado et al “Climate change as a driver of insect invasions: Dispersal patterns of a dragonfly species colonizing a new region”. Plos ONE (2023)
Rights: Creative Commons.
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