Deadwood in piles or distributed : does it make any difference to saproxylic beetles?

Piles of deadwood are often retained in forests after management to support the biodiversity of saproxylic organisms which depend on deadwood to survive. Any knowledge about the crucial role of piles as suitable habitat of saproxylic organisms compared to single distributed deadwood objects that are...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Eslamifar, Shermin
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
sueco
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Ecology 2011
Materias:
Descripción
Sumario:Piles of deadwood are often retained in forests after management to support the biodiversity of saproxylic organisms which depend on deadwood to survive. Any knowledge about the crucial role of piles as suitable habitat of saproxylic organisms compared to single distributed deadwood objects that are around the piles would help conservation actors to motivate more forest owners to support saproxylic organisms during their management. Therefore to give facts to this the saproxylic fauna of different pile positions (up and low) was studied and compared to distributed deadwood samples around each pile. Our study was focused on saproxylic beetles. Some other parameters such as diameter, deadwood volume, pile volume and decay stage were assessed to define any effect. Our study was done in a small part of urban forests in Uppsala. We collected pair-wise samples: one from pile consisting of two up and low sub-samples and one from distributed deadwood. Saproxylic beetles were reared indoors in rearing boxes for three months and determined. In total we recorded 106 individuals of 55 different species. The results showed that position, diameter and deadwood volume of the samples were not affecting species density or individual density of saproxylic beetles. However pile volume was positively related with individual density. Presence of the most decayed wood was positively related with species density. According to our results we concluded pile deadwood is useful for saproxylic beetles compared to distributed deadwood and saproxylic beetles are more frequent in bigger piles with presence of the most decayed wood. Keywords: Saproxylic beetles, Pile, position, Deadwood, Wood living, connectivity, volume, diameter, Quality, Distributed, Scattered, Accumulated, Stage of decay, Conservation, Biodiversity, Red-listed, Forest management, Boreo-nemoral forest, Sweden.