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Erosion of insect diversity in response to 7000 years of relative sea-level rise on a small Mediterranean island

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Abstract

We have investigated the potential effects of global sea-level rise on Mediterranean coastal wetlands by studying the Coleoptera and pollen fossil remains in a 7000-year sedimentary record, which we obtained from a coastal marshy area on a small Mediterranean island (Cavallo, southern Corsica). Using beetle structural diversity and plant composition as recorded prior to marine and human influences as a ‘past analogue’, we reconstructed the impact of the Holocene relative sea-level rise on the coastal ecosystem. Our results show that beetle species richness and diversity were highest when freshwater was predominant, which was the case until about 6200 years ago. We also found that a major increase in salinity had occurred over the last 5300 years, experiencing a peak rate of increase at about 3700 years ago. These changes are clearly reflected in the fossil records of the following key taxa: halophilous beetles (Ochthebius sp., Pterostichus cursor), halophilous plants (Chenopodiaceae, Tamarix) and non-pollen palynomorphs (microforaminiferal linings). In particular, we note that the majority (60%) of wetland beetle fauna became locally extinct in response to the salinity changes, and these changes were exacerbated by the recent aggravation of human pressures on the island. The major part of this diversity loss occurred 3700 years ago, when the relative Mediterranean sea-level rose above −1.5 ± 0.3 meters. These findings demonstrate the value of fossil beetle assemblage analysis as a diagnostic for the response of coastal wetland biodiversity to past salinity increases, and serve as a means of forecasting the effects of sea-level rise in the future. The conservation of inland freshwater bodies could ultimately prove essential to preserving freshwater insect diversity in threatened coastal environments.

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Acknowledgements

This study was incorporated within the framework of the CoP2A (Corsican Palaeoclimate, Palaeoenvironments & Anthropization) project, which is supported by the Laboratoire d’Excellence Objectif-Terre Bassin méditerranéen (Labex OT-Med) of Aix Marseille University (ANR-11-LABEX-0061), and by the DyPaCo (Dynamique des paléoenvironnements de la Corse, convention no.15/005) project which is supported by the Office de l’environnement de la Corse (OEC)/Conservatoire botanique national de Corse. The fieldwork was funded by the French government (projet Investissements d’Avenir) within the Initiative d’excellence A*MIDEX/MEDNET of Aix Marseille University (ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02), and performed during a field school of the Master SET-SBEM of Aix Marseille University. The authors wish to thank the Conservatoire Botanique National de Corse and its director Laetitia Hugot for their constant support of this research. We also thank the Association pour la protection de l’environnement de l’île de Cavallo (APEIC), notably Mrs. Matthieu Bidali and Michel Orlanducci for their permission to work on the private island of Cavallo. Finally, thanks are due to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive remarks.

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  1. Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Avignon, CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Marseille, France

    Yoann Poher, Philippe Ponel, Frédéric Guiter, Valérie Andrieu-Ponel & Frédéric Médail

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  1. Yoann Poher
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  2. Philippe Ponel
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Poher, Y., Ponel, P., Guiter, F. et al. Erosion of insect diversity in response to 7000 years of relative sea-level rise on a small Mediterranean island. Biodivers Conserv 26, 1641–1657 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1322-z

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