Topic: Arthropod Biodiversity: Ecological and Functional Aspects

Invertebrate animals with a segmented body, exoskeleton, and articulated appendages represent the largest phylum in the animal kingdom, Arthropoda, and account for over 80% of all known living species. They exhibit great biodiversity with a wide range of adaptations and forms such as insects, lobsters, crabs, spiders, scorpions, mites, centipedes, and millipedes that live in every habitat on earth. Arthropods play an extremely important role in maintaining ecosystem services, including benefits to humans [1,2]. For example, many species pollinate plants, produce useful substances, serve as pest control, and serve as food for other animals in most trophic webs [3,4,5]. Moreover, mites, isopods, myriapods, and insects are scavengers or decomposers that break down dead plants and animal material, converting them into soil nutrients [6], or are valued bioindicators of environmental pollution [7,8,9]. Many crustacean species (crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and crayfish) are largely consumed by humans and are therefore farmed on an intensive commercial scale [10]. In contrast, other crustaceans and insects are highly invasive species and represent one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide, requiring strict control strategies [11,12,13,14,15,16]. Others are direct pests of crops and stored products [17], hematophagous vectors, or intermediate hosts of pathogenic organisms [18].