Biodiversity of Invertebrates in Cyprus

Dr. Ozge OzdenEuropean University of Lefke

Faculty of Agricultural SciencesSenior Lecturer

Biodiversity

• Biodiversity in the World• Biodiversity within the Mediterranean Basin• Biodiversity in Cyprus• Threats to Biodiversity• Invertebrate Biodiversity Research in Cyprus• Discussion

Biodiversity in the World• Biologists have identified 25 areas, called

biodiversity hotspots, which are especially rich in endemic species and are particularly threatened by human activities (Mittermeier et al., 1998; Myers et al., 2000).

• Biodiversity hotspots identify areas that are “biologically spectacular” by virtue of their species richness, diversity and endemism (Jepson and Canney, 2001).

Biodiversity Hotspots

Biodiversity in the World• Almost half of the world’s vascular plant species

and one-third of terrestrial vertebrates are endemic to the 25 “hotspots” of biodiversity, each of which has at least 1500 endemic plant species (Brooks et al., 2002).

Biodiversity within the Mediterranean Basin

• The Mediterranean region is recognised as one of the global “hotspots”, comprising some of the world’s most unique biogeographical areas and harbouring high levels of biological diversity (Myers, 1990).

• Furthermore, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Basin contain some of the most threatened plant species (about 2000 plants) of the world’s hotspots (Brooks et al. 2002).

Biodiversity within the Mediterranean Basin

• The Mediterranean Basin comprises beautiful mountain landscapes covered by scrub and woodlands, unique wetland areas, dune ecosystems and various agroecosystems (Blondel and Aronson, 2004).

Biodiversity within the Mediterranean Basin

• The mountainous landscapes, coastal hills and other ecosystems are home to approximately 25,000 species of flowering plants of which 1,300 are endemic (IUCN, 2003).

Biodiversity in Cyprus

• Cyprus is one of the “biodiversity islands” inside the one of the World`s hotspot areas (Myers et al., 2000 and Nadin, 2008).

Biodiversity in Cyprus

• Medail and Quezel (1999) performed a global survey of plant richness and endemism in order to assess better plant conservation priorities in Mediterranean Basin.

• They defined 10 more hotspots within the Basin. One of the hotspots they identified included `South Anatolia` and `Cyprus`.

Biodiversity in Cyprus• The higher elevations of the Kyrenia mountain

range support many endemic plants. Some of these endemics are red listed by the IUCN, such as Delphinium caseyi and Brassica hillarionis (Tsintides et al., 2007).

• Also the endemic orchid Ophrys kotschyi is commonly distributed along the Kyrenia Range Mountains and valleys especially in grassy places under Pines or Cypress (Viney, 1994).

Biodiversity in Cyprus

• These important endemic plants (Delphinium caseyi, Brassica hillarionis and Ophrys kotschyi ) which are occurring along the Kyrenia Range mountains are also listed under EU Habitats Directive (Annex II) (EC, 2004).

Biodiversity in Cyprus• Cyprus is not only diverse in plants; it is also

diverse in animal species. There are two endemic bird species that occur in Cyprus: Cyprus warbler (Sylvia melanothorax) and Cyprus pied wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca).

Biodiversity in Cyprus

• There are two endangered marine turtle species (Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta) which are common breeders on the sandy beaches of Cyprus (Broderick and Godley, 1996).

Threats to Biodiversity

• There are numerous mechanisms of biodiversity loss and extinctions throughout the world, including: habitat loss or fragmentation, deforestation, agricultural practices, pollution, over exploitation, introduction of alien and invasive species, and climate change (Cincotta et al., 2000; Sala et al., 2000; Hodgson et al., 2005; Lewis, 2006).

Invertebrate Biodiversity Research in Cyprus

• Ladybird beetles

• Thrips (Thysanoptera) and their ecology

• Butterflies and their ecology

• Invertebrates and olive groves

Ladybird beetles in Cypus

• Coccinellidae (Coleoptera)

• Between 2000 – 2001• 21 species / 12 Genera• 6 new records for the

island

ÖZDEN, Ö., UYGUN, N. and KERSTING, U., 2006. Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) species of North Cyprus, including six new records. Zoology in the Middle East, Heidelberg, Germany, Volume 39.

Thrips (Thysanoptera)• Between 2003-2004• Two years surveys• 2029 specimens

collected and identified• Senckenberg Museum • 43 Species recorded

belonging to 23 Genera• 5 new genera and 14

new records for the island

• KERSTING, U. OZDEN, O., BLAESER, P., SENGONCA, C., 2005. Contribution towards the knowledge of the Thysanoptera fauna of North Cyprus. Journal of Entomologische Zeitschrift, Stuttgart, 115 (6).

• C.SENGONCA, P. BLAESER, Ö. ÖZDEN & U. KERSTING, 2006. Occurrence of thrips (Thysanoptera) infestation on nectarine and its importance to fruit damage in North Cyprus. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection, 113 (3) , s. 128-134, ISSN 1861-3829.

The thrips are minute, slender-bodied insects.

They are 0.5-5.0 mm in length

Butterflies

• Used butterflies as an indicator group to identify the importance of forest habitats for biodiversity conservation in the island of Cyprus.

Butterflies• Kyrenia Range Mountains(new forests/old forests)• 1602 butterfly specimens • 23 species • by using six Pollard walk

transects along Kyrenia range• We observed highly

significant effects of forest type on the abundance and species richness of butterflies.

• ÖZDEN,Ö., CIESLA, W.B., FULLER, W.J. and HODGSON, D.J., 2008. Butterfly diversity in Mediterranean islands and in Pentadactylos Pinus brutia forests of Cyprus. Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 17: 2821-2832. (

Butterflies and Their Ecology

• We used butterflies as indicators to evaluate the conservation value of habitat mosaics within a garrigue ecosystem in Cyprus.

• Ten different plots and surveyed the butterflies weekly for five months to assess the abundance, species richness and diversity in two different habitat types; grassland and shrubland patches.

Kayalar / Orga

Butterflies and Their Ecology

• Total of 810 butterflies, totalling 16 species during this research.

• Habitat type showed a highly significant effect on butterfly abundance, particularly when considering endemic species.

5 10 15 20

02

46

810

12

Week

End

emic

but

terfl

y ab

unda

nce

Invertebrate biodiversity of olive groves

• Total of 12,387 arthropods collected from twelve olive groves in Cyprus.

• This research was carried out between November 2005 and June 2006.

• Impacts of different management regimes on invertebrate fauna and diversity, in Cypriot olive groves was determined

Invertebrate biodiversity of olive groves

• Differences in invertebrate fauna in high and low altitude olive groves with no management, tillage only, or tillage, pesticide and fertilizer application.

• We compared the abundance of the arthropods in different olive groves, the abundance of each taxa and the number of arthropods collected by using different methods.

Invertabrate biodiversity of olive groves

• The results indicate that management regime had no impact on the number or the diversity of invertebrates in understorey vegetation.

• In addition, our results confirm that the spraying of pesticides significantly reduces the number and diversity of invertebrates, however surprisingly my results show that soil tillage has little effect on edaphic fauna.

References• Brooks, T.M., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., Fonseca, G.A.B., Rylands, A.B.,

Konstant, W.R., Flick, P. Pilgrim, J., Oldfield, S., Magin, G. and Hilton-Taylor,C. (2002). Habitat loss and Extinction in the hotspots of biodiversity. Conservation Biology, Vol.16, No. 4, 909-923.

• IUCN (2003). Management of Protected Areas in the Mediterranean. Assessment and opportunities of networks and action plans. Published by IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation of Nature and Natural Resources, 149 pp.

• Jepson, P. and Canney, S. (2001). Biodiversity hotspots hot for what ? Global Ecology and Biogeography 10, 225-227.

• Mittermeier, R.A, Myers, N., Thomsen, J. B., da Fonesca, G.A.B. and Olivier, S. (1998). Biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas, approaches to setting conservation priorities. Conservation Biology, 12, 516-520.

References• Myers, N. (1990). The biodiversity challenge: expanded hotspots analysis.

Environmentalists 10, 243-256.

• Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B., Kent, J. (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403, 853-858.

• Nadin, P. (2008). The Mediterranean region: a showcase of biodiversity. Statistics in Focus, Environment and Energy, Eurostat, ISSN 1977-0316.

THANKS !

• Dr. David Hodgson• Prof. Dr. Richard zur

Strassen• Prof. Dr. Helmut Fuersch• Prof. Dr. Nedim Uygun• Christodoulos Makris• Dr. Ulrich Kersting• Eckart Kuhlwein• Dr. Wayne and Leyla Fuller

• DFG and BMZ – Germany

• UNDP• Exeter University – UK• European University of

Lefke