Climate change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. In particular, it alters species distribution and interactions, including those between parasites and their hosts. Here, we investigated how climate change may cause geographical range shifts and variation in niche overlap in the kleptoparasite spider Argyrodes argyrodes and its hosts, Argiope lobata and Cyrtophora citricola, in Europe. We used species presence data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, a citizen-science database) to perform species distribution modelling of the three considered species and to assess niche overlap between A. argyrodes and its two hosts in the present and in the future. Future projections were based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In particular, we focused on SSP1-2.6 (global sustainability) and SSP5-8.5 (high greenhouse gas emissions) scenarios for the periods 2021-2040 and 2061-2080. Our present-day model results showed that the overlap between A. argyrodes and its hosts occurs mainly within the Mediterranean Basin. In future scenario, niche overlap decreases the most when considering the association between A. argyrodes and C. citricola in the high greenhouse gas emissions scenario in the 2061-2080 interval. Moreover, the three species will shift their distribution northward and the overlapping area will be found along the Atlantic and the Black sea coasts. These results suggest a growth of the extent of the areas where the kleptoparasite should leave without its hosts. This may lead either to its extinction, to a change in host choice or, lastly, to adaptation to catching insects with its own web. To conclude, our work shows how climate change will alter the host- parasite interactions in poorly studied taxa, highlighting the need of studies encompassing the whole biodiversity to reduce knowledge’s bias towards the most charismatic species.
Climate change alters niche overlap and future distribution ofa kleptoparasitic spider and its hosts in Europe / E. Crepet, A. Costanzo, C.F. Trisoglio, C. Polidori, D. Gil-Tapetado. Young Researchers Meeting in Ecology and Aquatic Sciences : 11–12 June Milano 2026.
Climate change alters niche overlap and future distribution ofa kleptoparasitic spider and its hosts in Europe
E. Crepet
Primo
;A. Costanzo;C.F. Trisoglio;C. Polidori;
2026
Abstract
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. In particular, it alters species distribution and interactions, including those between parasites and their hosts. Here, we investigated how climate change may cause geographical range shifts and variation in niche overlap in the kleptoparasite spider Argyrodes argyrodes and its hosts, Argiope lobata and Cyrtophora citricola, in Europe. We used species presence data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, a citizen-science database) to perform species distribution modelling of the three considered species and to assess niche overlap between A. argyrodes and its two hosts in the present and in the future. Future projections were based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In particular, we focused on SSP1-2.6 (global sustainability) and SSP5-8.5 (high greenhouse gas emissions) scenarios for the periods 2021-2040 and 2061-2080. Our present-day model results showed that the overlap between A. argyrodes and its hosts occurs mainly within the Mediterranean Basin. In future scenario, niche overlap decreases the most when considering the association between A. argyrodes and C. citricola in the high greenhouse gas emissions scenario in the 2061-2080 interval. Moreover, the three species will shift their distribution northward and the overlapping area will be found along the Atlantic and the Black sea coasts. These results suggest a growth of the extent of the areas where the kleptoparasite should leave without its hosts. This may lead either to its extinction, to a change in host choice or, lastly, to adaptation to catching insects with its own web. To conclude, our work shows how climate change will alter the host- parasite interactions in poorly studied taxa, highlighting the need of studies encompassing the whole biodiversity to reduce knowledge’s bias towards the most charismatic species.
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