Surface temperature and shrub cover drive ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in short‐rotation coppices

• Published in: Agricultural and forest entomology Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 400 - 410
• Main Authors: Kriegel, Peter, Fritze, Michael‐Andreas, Thorn, Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Abundance; Biodiversity; Carabidae; Community composition; Composition; Ecological effects; fuel wood; Habitats; Herbivores; Herbs; Microclimate; Pitfall traps; Rotation; short‐rotation coppice; shrub‐cover; Soil temperature; Species diversity; Species richness; Surface temperature; temperature
• ISSN: 1461-9555; 1461-9563
• DOI: 10.1111/afe.12441

Increasing demand for biomass has led to an on‐going intensification of fuel wood plantations with possible negative effects on open land biodiversity. Hence, ecologists increasingly call for measures that reduce those negative effects on associated biodiversity. However, our knowledge about the efficiency of such measures remains scarce. We investigated the effects of gap implementation in short rotation coppices (SRCs) on carabid diversity and assemblage composition over 3 years, with pitfall traps in gaps, edges and interiors. In parallel, we quantified soil surface temperature, shrub‐ and herb cover. Edges had the highest number of species and abundances per trap, whereas rarefied species richness was significantly lower in short rotation coppice interiors than in other habitat types. Carabid community composition differed significantly between habitat types. The main environmental drivers were temperature for number of species and abundance and shrub cover for rarefied species richness. We found significantly higher rarefied species richness in gaps compared with interiors. Hence, we argue that gap implementation benefits overall diversity in short rotation coppices. Furthermore, the differences in species community composition between habitat types through increased species turnover support carabid diversity in short rotation coppices. These positive effects were largely attributed to microclimate conditions. However, to maintain positive effects, continuous management of herb layer might be necessary. Short‐rotation coppices shift carabid communities towards forest species assemblages, while decreasing species numbers and abundances of open habitat species. This leads to a decline in gamma diversity. We identified shrub cover and temperature as main environmental drivers for changes in species numbers, abundances and rarefied richness. Herb cover showed only marginal effects. We conclude that gap implementation increases gamma diversity, due to the co‐existence of open habitat and closed habitat specialists. However, continuous management of gaps (e.g. removal of herb layer) might be necessary to uphold those initial positive effects.