Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Insect communities are a vital part of ecosystems and are today threatened by species extinction and loss of biodiversity. While several drivers of biodiversity loss have been identified, industrial land-use (e.g mining) causing alterations in habitats is one potential driver. In the present study, we examine the effects of mining operations on insect communities in northern Sweden. Using 120 samples from pan traps located close to two major open pit mines (Aitik and Svappavaara) we studied the effects of dust deposition, proximity to mines tailing dams as well as loss of canopy cover on insect biodiversity metrics. We found that insect abundance was higher with proximity to mines tailing dams, potentially due to generalist taxa thriving in degraded habitats. Both dust deposition originating from mines and loss of canopy cover might be factors affecting insect communities and continued research could potentially reveal more complex effects. While the influence of environmental variables for community composition could not be detected, our data show trends of distinctions among sites, potentially due to parasitoid-host relationships.