SI: Insect conservation in biodiversity hotspots

An overall picture has emerged in which a few regions, particularly in the tropics and in Mediterranean-type environments, are consistently emphasized as priorities for biodiversity conservation (Brooks et al. 2006). These regions comprises many mega-biodiverse countries and, at the same time, represent a baseline to explore unrepresented or under recorded regions (e.g. central and western Africa) that are also experiencing high rates of biodiversity loss due to a rapid and unprecedented environmental change. Ongoing fragmentation, deterioration and loss of natural and semi-natural habitats, urbanization, pollution, and the accelerating rate of climate change pose considerable challenge for many species and habitats. Insects and related arthropods have been shown to be sensitive to these changes, and have fared worse than vertebrates and plants in many species-rich regions over recent decades. Given that biodiversity is unevenly distributed and the most biodiverse places are often the most threatened and poorest economically, the assessment of biodiversity hotspots brings advantages of ecological and conservation relevance. This Special Issue is an exciting opportunity to synthesize and update the state of insects and related arthropods in biodiversity hotspots –related manuscripts from outside the hotspots especially from poorly studied areas will also be considered. It aims to integrate general patterns of distribution and diversity, population-level trends, changes in distribution and abundance from case studies, habitats, and taxonomic groups. These general patterns would allow us to inform management and conservation stakeholders to reconcile biodiversity and wellbeing.