The Drusinae (Insecta:Trichoptera) in a world of global change

There is clear evidence that biological assessment systems greatly benefit from species level identification, because species, as the basic biological units, yield the highest information possible. Unfortunately, contemporary keys of aquatic macroinvertebrates are still incomplete due to a lack of taxonomical data. In the present project, we will focus on subfamily Drusinae because 54 species of this primary indicator group are still unknown in the larval stage. In addition, missing autecological data of the unknown larvae excludes them from standard assessment procedures and ecological data bases. The first aim of this project is, therefore, to obtain specimens and ecometrics, to conduct species affiliation of unknown larvae with adults using sequence analyses and to construct keys including all species. To track the specimens needed, four collecting teams will be busy from the Iberian peninsula to the Caucasus and the southern Balkan. The results will enable ecologists to fully utilize the sensitivity of Drusinae species in applied running water ecology and conservation biology and to fill the gaps in ecological databases. Three quarters of the Drusinae are endemics limited to one or only few mountain ranges, making the group an ideal model for studying evolutionary processes. In the second work package we explore the phylogeny in the Drusinae in a combined morphological and molecular context. We will test if key innovations (e.g., advanced feeding types) together with Pliocene-Pleistocene climate change, promoted diversification and speciation. To test this hypothesis we need to increase the number of taxa included in our already established phylogeny of 28 species. We also wish to include morphological data sets of larvae and adults as well as two further molecular markers (up to a total of five) to obtain greater resolution in our tree to allow an unambiguous reconstruction of Drusinae phylogeny. Most Drusinae species are strictly confined to higher altitudes in the mountains with their ranges consisting of fragmented montane sky-island populations. They are therefore very exposed to global warming effects, which have their most severe implications in Alpine ecosystems. For these species high altitudes may act as summit traps as vertical migrations to colder climate zones in response to global warming will not be possible for such species, possibly leading to their extinction. Developmental temperature data and species distribution modelling included in our work package 3 will provide valuable basic information for early warning systems on climate-induced threats to high mountain biodiversity under two different future climate scenarios.

Project summary There is clear evidence that biological assessment systems greatly benefit from species level identification, because species, as the basic biological units, yield the highest information possible. Unfortunately, contemporary keys of aquatic macroinvertebrates are still incomplete due to a lack of taxonomical data. In the present project, we will focus on subfamily Drusinae because 54 species of this primary indicator group are still unknown in the larval stage. In addition, missing autecological data of the unknown larvae excludes them from standard assessment procedures and ecological data bases. The first aim of this project is, therefore, to obtain specimens and ecometrics, to conduct species affiliation of unknown larvae with adults using sequence analyses and to construct keys including all species. To track the specimens needed, four collecting teams will be busy from the Iberian peninsula to the Caucasus and the southern Balkan. The results will enable ecologists to fully utilize the sensitivity of Drusinae species in applied running water ecology and conservation biology and to fill the gaps in ecological databases. Three quarters of the Drusinae are endemics limited to one or only few mountain ranges, making the group an ideal model for studying evolutionary processes. In the second work package we explore the phylogeny in the Drusinae in a combined morphological and molecular context. We will test if key innovations (e.g., advanced feeding types) together with Pliocene-Pleistocene climate change, promoted diversification and speciation. To test this hypothesis we need to increase the number of taxa included in our already established phylogeny of 28 species. We also wish to include morphological data sets of larvae and adults as well as two further molecular markers (up to a total of five) to obtain greater resolution in our tree to allow an unambiguous reconstruction of Drusinae phylogeny. Most Drusinae species are strictly confined to higher altitudes in the mountains with their ranges consisting of fragmented montane sky-island populations. They are therefore very exposed to global warming effects, which have their most severe implications in Alpine ecosystems. For these species high altitudes may act as summit traps as vertical migrations to colder climate zones in response to global warming will not be possible for such species, possibly leading to their extinction. Developmental temperature data and species distribution modelling included in our work package 3 will provide valuable basic information for early warning systems on climate-induced threats to high mountain biodiversity under two different future climate scenarios.