# Influence of different industrial resource profiles on taxonomical richness and community structure of insects populations

## TL;DR

This study shows how different types of industrial activities affect insect diversity and community structure, highlighting the need for tailored pest management strategies.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on how industrial resource profiles influence insect biodiversity and community dynamics.

## Key findings

- Food-processing factories, especially ice cream and cheese factories, had the highest insect taxonomic richness and diversity.
- Car factories showed the lowest diversity but improved evenness in 2022, possibly due to microhabitat development.
- Seasonal variations and factory-specific byproducts significantly influenced insect population dynamics.

## Abstract

Industrial activity has significant effects on terrestrial biota and insect community which are considered a significant biological indicator of alterations in the environment. This research examined insect diversity, dominance, and abundance over two years on eight factory types (both non-food and food-processing) in 6th of October City, Egypt. To describe insect community structures and determine the ecological drivers of observed patterns, the study used a variety of biodiversity indices, such as Taxa_S, Shannon_H, Simpson_1-D, Menhinick, Margalef, Fisher’s Alpha, Evenness, Equitability_J, Dominance_D, Brillouin, Berger-Parker, and ACE. Due to the abundance of organic waste, the results consistently demonstrated that food-processing factories, especially the ice cream and cheese factories, supported the highest taxonomic richness and diversity. Conversely, the car’s factory exhibited the lowest diversity, though it demonstrated unexpected improvements in evenness in 2022, possibly indicating microhabitat development or reduced stressors. Despite maintaining low variety, the chips & corn factory consistently recorded the highest insect abundance, indicating substantial dominance by a small number of highly adapted species. The cycle of seasons and thus the massed population in the onion factory was unconventional due to the unpleasant nature of onion byproducts. The ice cream factory carried a more balanced community as compared to the chocolate and Meat Factories that had high Berger-Parker indices. In most places, spring was a season of seasonal highs in diversity and abundance. The influence of personal products of industry turns out with the rich and unreasonable preponderance of Coleoptera (Ptinidae, Nitidulidae) and over-abundance of Diptera, in particular, Muscidae and Drosophilidae. Such findings evidence the role of industry in greatly influencing insect ecology and show how a tailored seasonally adjustable whole integrated pest management protocol dependent upon the resource availability, ecological considerations specific to a particular factory are needed.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-32865-3.