Major insect groups show distinct responses to local and regional attributes of urban green spaces

Abstract Urban green spaces vary in their local and regional attributes, and this variation can have contrasting effects on the ability of urban green spaces to support biodiversity. Here we assess the response of four insect taxa to urban development in Sydney, Australia, using a multiscale approach. We sampled four insect orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Hymenoptera) at 19 sites and employed a) multivariate analyses to test the responses of insect communities to environmental management regimes, and b) generalised linear models to determine taxa responses to urban green spaces at local and regional scales. We hypothesised that environmental management regimes (forest, urban forest remnant, and recreational park) affected the species composition of insect communities but found no evidence to support this hypothesis. Only species composition of hemipteran communities responded at this scale, with assemblages in urban forest remnants distinct to those in forests and recreational parks. Conversely, site attributes at local and regional scales had distinct effects on each insect group. While species richness of all taxa was positively related to local flower species richness, they exhibited variable responses to regional attributes such as greenspace proportion and site area. The taxon-specific response to local and regional attributes of urban green spaces suggest that there is no silver-bullet for managing local or regional traits to promote diversity of major insect groups in urban areas. These results highlight the opportunities for managers and planners to develop unique and targeted taxon-specific interventions aiming to enhance urban insect diversity.