Wildfires induce a reduction in body size and morphological variation of an insular endemic insect

Anthropogentic disturbance is known to affect population sizes and genetic population structure of many biotas. Wildfires are a major disturbance in many regions of the world, particularly in Mediterranean regions and on the Atlantic islands. Populations of many insects, such as the Madeiran Green Bush-Cricket (Psalmatophanes barretoi), are threated by wildfies. However, the effects of wildfires on genetic structure and diversity as well as morphological variation of the populations reamins little understood. Therefore, we studied genetic diversity, structure, and potential bottlenecks of this species using microsatellites. We also studied morphological variation and fluctuating asymmetry within and between populations to unravel potential effects of wildfires. We did not find any evidence for genetic differentiation of populations, but some populations had high heterozygosity excess, regardless of burning. Morphological variation in burnt areas was lower than in non-burnt areas. Fluctu..., Geography of the sampling and studied regions
We sampled individuals of P. barretoi from the known populations of this species (Rhee et al., 2023) in burnt and unburnt areas across the whole island of Madeira (Figure 2). Data on wildfires between 2006 and 2019 were obtained from the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation in Madeira (IFCN). We divided the sampling localities into three different categories according to their fire severities (“Unburnt”, “Partially burnt” and “Completely Burnt Regions”) based on their overlap with the fire polygons visually for genetic analysis (Figure 2). The study sites Machico and Santana, Seixal and Fanal did not experience any recent wildfires (“Unburnt Regions”), the study site Ribeira da Vacca and Amparo had wildfires (“Burnt Regions”), the sites Serra de Agua and Vagum, and Paul da Serra burnt partially (“Partially Burnt Regions”). We also assigned each individual to the fire history of its locality in two categories (burnt or not) based on t..., , # Data from: Wildfires induce a reduction in body size and morphological variation of an insular endemic insect

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sj3tx96f2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sj3tx96f2)

## Description of the data and file structure

These are the data from Rhee et al. (2025).

Other information, including the software used, is available in detail in Rhee et al. (2025). The supplemental figures (Supplemental figures (Revised).pdf) contain box plots about the relationship between burn status and morphological traits, and the graphical results of STRUCTURE analysis. The supplemental tables (Supplemental table (Revised).pdf) include tables about information of microsatellite markers and the ANOVA results of the relationship between burnt status and morphological traits.

Rhee, H., Naber, S., Krehenwinkel, H. & Hochkirch, A. (2025) Wildfires induce a reduction in body size and morphological variation of an insular endemic insect. Ecological Entomology, 1–10. Available from: [https..., , **Changes after Feb 7, 2025:** No change

**Changes after Apr 25, 2025:** The file type of the supplemental data is changed as PDF.

**Changes after Feb 18, 2026:**  We changed the PCA values for_anova_and_variance_correction.xslx for the correction of our paper.

**Description of the data and file structure**

These are the data from Rhee et al. (2025).

Other information, including the software used, is available in detail in Rhee et al. (2025). The supplemental figures (Supplemental figures (Revised).pdf) contain box plots about the relationship between burn status and morphological traits, and the graphical results of STRUCTURE analysis. The supplemental tables (Supplemental table (Revised).pdf) include tables about information of microsatellite markers and the ANOVA results of the relationship between burnt status and morphological traits.

Rhee, H., Naber, S., Krehenwinkel, H. & Hochkirch, A. (2025) Wildfires induce a reduction in body size and morphologica..., #### **2026 Feb 18**

Changes made: PCA values for_anova_and_variance_correction.xlsxDescription of the data and file structure.xlsx

#### **Description of the data**

These are the data from Rhee et al. (2025).

Other information, including the software used, is available in detail in Rhee et al. (2025). The supplemental figures (Supplemental figures (Revised).pdf) contain box plots about the relationship between burn status and morphological traits, and the graphical results of STRUCTURE analysis. The supplemental tables (Supplemental table (Revised).pdf) include tables about information of microsatellite markers and the ANOVA results of the relationship between burnt status and morphological traits.

Rhee, H., Naber, S., Krehenwinkel, H. & Hochkirch, A. (2025) Wildfires induce a reduction in body size and morphological variation of an insular endemic insect. Ecological Entomology, 1–10. Available from: [https://doi.org/](https://doi.org/) 10.1111/een.13418

#### **Files and ...