2026/03/19 by Dragoș Cocoș, Maartje J. Klapwijk, Christer Björkman +1 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution #Coleoptera: Cerambycidae studies #Forest Insect Ecology and Management
paper · doi:10.1016/j.baae.2026.03.006
openalex publication_date 2026/03/19 · openalex created_date 2026/03/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/18
Understanding the factors shaping range expansions is critical for predicting species future distributions, and for planning of monitoring surveys. We investigated how habitat patch occupancy and colonization intensity of the bark beetle Ips amitinus vary along a latitudinal gradient approaching the species’ southern range edge in Sweden. Specifically, we examined how distance to the range edge, habitat patch size, and host tree composition influence the probability of patch occupancy and the proportion of colonized objects within occupied patches. Colonization probability declined toward the range edge and increased with the proportion of spruce, while patch size was negatively related to patch occupancy. Although overall colonization probability did not differ significantly between years, spatial patterns varied temporally, indicating dynamic range-edge processes. Our results suggest that reduced colonization near the range edge is driven by demographic and habitat-mediated constraints rather than dispersal limitation. These findings highlight the importance of landscape context and habitat quality for colonization success at expanding range edges and provide insights relevant to ecological theory, early detection of invading species, and forest monitoring under changing environmental conditions.