Hoverflies of Serbia: What suits them better – Protected Areas or Prime Hoverfly Areas?

Biodiversity is declining on a global level, which raises the question of efficiency of Protected Areas (PAs). Furthermore, PAs are often established for political or economic reasons, rather than based on ecological principles, or scientific criteria. When designating PAs, the focus is mainly on well known, charismatic species, often leaving invertebrates, especially insects, underrepresented. In Serbia, 77 species of hoverflies have been protected by the national law Code on declaration and protection of strictly protected and protected wild species of plants, animals and fungi (Official Gazette of RS, no. 5/2010). In order to improve the conservation status of hoverflies, Vujić et al. (2016) identified species of conservation concern and proposed priority areas (Prime Hoverfly Areas - PHA) for their preservation in Serbia, based on long-term monitoring data. The aims of this study are to identify the areas of high hoverfly diversity in Serbia and to evaluate the efficiency of protected areas and Prime Hoverfly Areas in conservation of hoverfly diversity, especially species of conservation concern. The results indicate that PHA network corresponds better to areas of high hoverfly diversity than the network of PAs. The correspondence is even better when it comes to areas harbouring species of conservation concern.