Insect Community Ecology Group

I am very proud and honoured that one more moth species, Sineviella tropeki, was dedicated to me! Together with Sineviella maicheri, dedicated to my former student Dr. Vincent Maicher.

🏠🐝Hmyzí hotely: pomoc opylovačům, nebo jen dobře vypadající dekorace?🐝 Sepsali jsme o tom delší text na @Ekolist_cz, včetně rad, kde ho (ne)koupit, jak ho nejlíp udělat a umístit. 🧵Odkaz a shrnutí ve vlákně níže⬇️

Empirical elevational networks partly follow these MDE predictions, but also show clear deviations. 👉 Mid-domain effect matters, although biology leaves a major fingerprint. Ignoring MDE risks misinterpreting null patterns as biological signals.

Our null-model simulations show that MDE alone can generate strong structure: - unimodal peaks in realised links, generality and vulnerability - U-shaped patterns in connectance and often nestedness All emerging from geometry, not biology...

New preprint on interaction networks! Do network characteristics peak mid-gradient, similar to species richness, due to simple geometry: the mid-domain effect (MDE). We test this using simulations and real plant–pollinator and ant–plant networks. doi.org/10.64898/2026.…

Podcast @Akademie_ved_CR o opylování, hmyzu, výzkumu, i mužích na rodičovské dovolené... avcr.cz/cs/pro-verejno… (samozřejmě k nalezení i v podcastových aplikacích)

Take-home message: upslope range shifts under climate warming won’t automatically mean successful reproduction. Near mountaintops, plants face a double bottleneck – fewer pollinators and physiological limits. Pollination + climate must be considered together.

Pollinators were part of the story: visitation frequency and diversity declined upslope and were linked to seed production. But pollen limitation and reproductive failure weren’t explained by pollinators alone – abiotic constraints kick in hard at the top.

New prepring out!🌸🐝 How does plant reproduction change near the upper limits of vegetation in the tropics? We studied #pollination, pollen limitation, and selfing in Afromontane grasslands on Mount Cameroon. biorxiv.org/content/10.648…

This split between broadening across the gradient and selectivity within elevations reveals hidden complexity in montane specialisation. As the first test of habitat niches in tropical insects, it may also reshape how we think about their responses to environmental change.

But here’s the twist: despite broader niches across elevations, insects don’t loosen their selectivity within each forest zone. They still use only a slice of what’s locally available. Behaviour, microclimate and competition likely keep them picky.

New study! We just published the first test of the elevational niche-breadth hypothesis using habitat niches of fruit-feeding butterflies and moths on Mount Cameroon in @Oikos_Journal. @fpgaona1 @MaicherVincent @RobertTropek doi.org/10.1002/oik.11…

With mopane projected to expand under climate change, these findings highlight the importance of maintaining heterogeneous savanna mosaics rather than promoting monodominant stands in management or restoration. doi.org/10.1101/2025.1…

Community composition also shifts along the mopane gradient in birds, mammals, and bats, while insects mainly lose species without systematic restructure. Overall, mopane dominance acts as a powerful ecological filter that simplifies savanna ecosystems.

New preprint! In a landscape-scale study from #Kruger NP, we show that dominance of a native tree, Colophospermum #mopane, reduces diversity of insects, birds, and mammals, while not affecting plants. Led by @fpgaona1 @RobertTropek and Petr Pyšek doi.org/10.1101/2025.1…