Summary
Hoverflies are essential pollinators enormously contributing to plant diversity and agricultural production, but they are declining. However, despite their importance for preserving both biodiversity and food security, hoverflies have been severely understudied compared to other major pollinators such as bees. This substantial gap in knowledge is even more problematic in Luxembourg, one of the most urbanized countries in the world, where future land use change for new infrastructure and urban development will likely be considerable, because of demographic growth. To protect their functional role in the provision of key ecosystem services, we need to document the diversity and distribution of hoverflies. Indeed, developing this basic knowledge about hoverflies is a necessary first step towards a better understanding of how landscape disturbance affect the dynamics of their populations and, in the end, for developing future conservation projects and red lists. Developing an atlas of hoverflies in Luxembourg is, therefore, crucial. Beyond actively hand netting and trapping specimens, we plan to use georeferenced bulk samples from the historical wet collection of the MNHN, as well as collect data from recent and ongoing projects from other institutions to complement our datasets.
Project status
- Proposal accepted by the Ministre de l’Environnement, du Climat et du Développement durable in the context of the funding line Appel à projets « Pollinisateurs ». Duration: 57 months (04/2023 – 12/2027).
- Host institution: Fondation faune-flore @ Centre de recherche scientifique, Musée national d’histoire naturelle.
- Partners: MECB
Funding
With financial support from the Fonds pour la protection de l’environnement
Contacts
- Dr. Julian Wittische, Data Science
phone (+352) 24 76 66 65
Julian.wittische@mnhn.lu - Dr. Alain Frantz, Department of Zoology
phone: (+352) 462240 210
alain.frantz@mnhn.lu - Alexander Weigand, Department of Zoology
phone: (+352) 462240 212
alexander.weigand@mnhn.lu
National Museum of Natural History (MNHNL)
Research center
Life science department
25, rue Münster
L-2160 Luxembourg