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

Socpus ID

77956878730 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/77956878730

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