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Does forest loss affect the communities of trap-nesting wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in forests? Landscape vs. local habitat conditions

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Abstract

We investigated changes in the communities of trap-nesting Hymenoptera in forests in relation to forest loss on a landscape scale and understory conditions on a local habitat scale. Two specific questions were addressed. (1) Do the communities change with degrees of forest loss? (2) Do the communities change with varying local environmental conditions of understory habitats? The study was made in a landscape characterized by distributed forest patches within intensively managed agricultural surroundings. We deployed trap-nests at eight randomly selected sites in forests in summer. To quantify forest loss, the amount of forest coverage was calculated using GIS. To indicate local habitat conditions, the species richness of understory flowering plants was used. All together, 12 species of wasps and no bees were captured. Regression analyses showed that both abundance and species richness of the wasps were not significantly related to forest coverage. However, abundance of trap-nesting wasps was significantly related to species richness of understory plants, but species richness of the wasps was not significantly related to the plants. These results suggest that communities of trap-nesting wasps in forests are influenced more by the local habitat conditions than by forest loss.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Long Point Conservation Authority, F. Saul, J. DeCloet and V. Sinnave for access to the study sites, C. Connell and Q. Shirk-Luckett for GIS support, G. Huber, E. Tanaka and J. Boone for their assistance with field sampling, C. Sheffield and S. Rigby for providing trap-nests, A. Pawlowski, M. Horn and J. Trevors for discussion and G. Umphrey for statistical consultant. This research was supported by a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation to H. Taki and a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to P. G. Kevan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G 2W1

    Hisatomo Taki, Peter G. Kevan & Matthias Buck

  2. Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil

    Blandina F. Viana

  3. Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas, Faculdades Jorge Amado, Salvador, Brazil

    Fabiana O. Silva

  4. Bacharelado em Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Tecnologia e Ciências, Salvador, Brazil

    Fabiana O. Silva

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  1. Hisatomo Taki
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Correspondence to Hisatomo Taki.

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Taki, H., Viana, B.F., Kevan, P.G. et al. Does forest loss affect the communities of trap-nesting wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in forests? Landscape vs. local habitat conditions. J Insect Conserv 12, 15–21 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9058-1

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