Title
Learning From A " Benign Neglect Strategy" In A National Park: Response Of Saproxylic Beetles To Dead Wood Accumulation
Keywords
Bark beetle; Bavarian Forest National Park; Forest dynamics; Ips typographus; Rewilding; Salvage logging; Threatened species
Abstract
Increasing demands for firewood owing to rising energy costs have accelerated discussions about the amount of dead wood needed for conservation. A sharp increase in dead wood caused by bark beetles in a German national park provides lessons for management of commercial and protected forests. We investigated the effects of dead wood due to bark beetle infestation as well as tree senility on abundance and richness of saproxylic species of beetles. Increasing amounts of spruce dead wood and opening of the canopy by bark beetles had positive effects on the abundance of host-generalist, conifer-specialist, and red-listed saproxylic beetles. Broadleaf specialists were positively associated with the amount of broadleaf dead wood and negatively associated with canopy openness. Gradient analysis of beetle assemblages revealed two major environmental axes: canopy openness and amount of dead wood. We found a threshold for community divergence at a canopy openness of 23% (confidence interval CI: 11-49) and at an amount of dead wood of 64m3ha-1 (CI: 35-160). Critically endangered species served as indicators of dense and open forests, but only when the amount of dead wood was high. Our results suggest that, to maintain saproxylic beetle assemblages, the amount of dead wood in commercial montane forests (at present ≈15m3ha-1) needs to be tripled, with a focus on broadleaf wood in dense stands and spruce wood in open stands. For large protected areas in Europe, our data suggest that bark beetle infestation and senescence without active forest management improves habitat conditions for saproxylic beetles. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Publication Date
11-1-2010
Publication Title
Biological Conservation
Volume
143
Issue
11
Number of Pages
2559-2569
Document Type
Article
Personal Identifier
scopus
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.06.024
Copyright Status
Unknown
Socpus ID
77956878730 (Scopus)
Source API URL
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/77956878730
STARS Citation
Müller, Jörg; Noss, Reed F.; Bussler, Heinz; and Brandl, Roland, "Learning From A " Benign Neglect Strategy" In A National Park: Response Of Saproxylic Beetles To Dead Wood Accumulation" (2010). Scopus Export 2010-2014. 70.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2010/70