Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Impacts of Leaf-litter Addition on Carabids in a Conifer Plantation

  • Published:
Biodiversity & Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As a fine-scale, manipulative model experiment leaf litter was added in plots to increase habitat heterogeneity in a 50-year-old Norway spruce plantation, established after the clear-cutting of a native beech forest, during a 2-year period in the Hungarian Mountain Range. Pitfall trap catches of carabids from leaf-litter plots were compared with those from control plots to explore the effect of leaf-litter addition. Difference in the species composition was revealed by ordination; scores of the samples of the two plot types were significantly separated along the first MDS axis. The most numerous species (Pterostichus oblongopunctatus) was significantly more abundant in the leaf-litter plots. However, there were no significant differences for the other most frequently obtained species. Habitat generalist species were the most abundant, followed by forest generalists, then forest specialists, and there were some open habitat species. Enhanced habitat heterogeneity (leaf-litter addition) in homogeneous plantations influenced the spatial distribution and composition of carabids, through altered abiotic (lower ground temperature in the leaf-litter plots) and biotic (more prey items) factors. Differences in abundance, species richness and Shannon diversity were not significant between the control and the manipulated plots, although carabid catch was higher in the leaf-litter plots during both years. Forestry practices to increase habitat heterogeneity should be considered to enhance biodiversity in managed forests.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baars M.A. 1979. Patterns of movement of radioactive carabid beetles. Oecologia 44: 125–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baguette M. and Gérard S. 1993. Effects of spruce plantations on carabid beetles in southern Belgium. Pedobiologia 37: 129–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bird S., Coulson R.N. and Crossley D.A. 2000. Impacts of silvicultural practices on soil and litter arthropod diversity in a Texas pine plantation. Forest Ecology and Management 131: 65–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryan K.M. and Wratten S.D. 1984. The responses of polyphagous predators to spatial heterogeneity: aggregation by carabid and staphylinid beetles to their cereal aphid prey. Ecological Entomology 9: 251–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butterfield J. 1997. Carabid community succession during forestry cycle in conifer plantations. Ecography 20: 614–625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butterfield J., Luff M.L., Baines M. and Eyre M.D. 1995. Carabid beetle communities as indicators of conservation potential in upland forests. Forest Ecology and Management 79: 63–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen B.R. and Wise D.H. 1999. Bottom-up limitation of predaceous arthropods in a detritus-based terrestrial food web. Ecology 80: 761–772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Den Boer P.J. 1990. The survival value of dispersal in terrestrial arthropods. Biological Conservation 54: 175–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desender K., Ervynck A. and Tack G. 1999. Beetle diversity and historical ecology of woodlands in Flanders. Belgian Journal of Zoology 129: 139–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Digweed S.C., Currie C.R., Cárcamo H.A. and Spence J.R. 1995. Digging out the digging-in effect of pitfall traps: influences of depletion and disturbance on catches of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Pedobiologia 39: 561–576.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elek Z., Magura T. and Tóthmérész B. 2001. Impacts of nonnative spruce plantation on carabids. Web Ecology 2: 32–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eyre M.D. and Luff M.L. 1994. Carabid species assemblages of north-east England woodlands. In: Desender K. et al. (eds), Carabid Beetles: Ecology and Evolution. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 277–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fahy O. and Gormally M. 1998. A comparison of plant and carabid beetle communities in an Irish oak woodland with a nearby conifer plantation and clearfelled site. Forest Ecology and Management 110: 263–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guillemain M., Loreau M. and Daufresne T. 1997. Relationships between the regional distribution of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) and the abundance of their potential prey. Acta Oecologica 18: 465–483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heessen H.J.L. 1980. Egg production of Pterostichus oblongopunctatus (Fabricius) (Col., Carabidae) and Philonthus decorus (Gravenhorst) (Col., Staphylinidae). Netherland Journal of Zoology 30: 35–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ings T.C. and Hartley S.E. 1999. The effect of habitat structure on carabid communities during the regeneration of a native Scottish forest. Forest Ecology and Management 119: 123–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koivula M. 2002. Alternative harvesting methods and boreal carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Forest Ecology and Management 167: 103–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koivula M., Puntilla P., Haila Y. and Niemelä J. 1999. Leaf litter and the small-scale distribution of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the boreal forest. Ecography 22: 424–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koivula M., Kukkonen J. and Niemelä J. 2002. Boreal carabid-beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) assemblages along the clear-cut originated succession gradient. Biodiversity and Conservation 11: 1269–1288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotze D.J. and Samways M.J. 1999. Invertebrate conservation at the interface between the grassland matrix and natural Afromontane forest fragments. Biodiversity and Conservation 8: 1339–1363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P. and Legendre L. 1998. Numerical Ecology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindroth C.H. 1985. The Carabidae (Coleoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark, Part 1. Fauna Entomologica Skandinavica, Leiden, The Netherlands and Copenhagen, Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindroth C.H. 1986. The Carabidae (Coleoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark, Part 2. Fauna Entomologica Skandinavica, Leiden, The Netherlands and Copenhagen, Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loreau M. 1988. Determinants of the seasonal pattern in the niche structure of a forest carabid community. Pedobiologia 31: 75–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loreau M. and Nolf C.L. 1993. Occupation of space by the carabid beetle Abax ater. Acta Oecologica 14: 247–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lövei G. and Sunderland K.D. 1996. Ecology and behavior of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Annual Review of Entomology 41: 231–256.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Magura T. 2002. Carabids and forest edge: spatial pattern and edge effect. Forest Ecology and Management 157: 23–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Bordán Zs. 1997. Comparison of the carabid communities of a zonal oak-hornbeam forest and pine plantations. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 43: 173–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Bordán Zs. 2000a. Effects of nature management practice on carabid assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a non-native plantation. Biological Conservation 93: 95–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Molnár T. 2000b. Spatial distribution of carabids along grass-forest transects. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 46: 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Ködöböcz V. and Bokor Zs. 2001a. Effects of forestry practices on carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Implication for nature management. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 36: 179–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Molnár T. 2001b. Forest edge and diversity: carabids along forest-grassland transects. Biodiversity and Conservation 10: 287–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Elek Z. 2002. Impacts of non-native spruce reforestation on ground beetles. European Journal of Soil Biology 38: 291–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Elek Z. 2003. Diversity and composition of carabids during a forestry cycle. Biodiversity and Conservation 12: 73–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magura T., Tóthmérész B. and Elek Z. 2005. Biotic interactions between carabids and other ground-dwelling invertebrates in a non-native Norway spruce plantation. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae (submitted).

  • Mátyás Cs. 1996. Forestry Ecology. Mezőgazda Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary (in Hungarian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Molnár T. Magura T. and Tóthmérész B. 2002. Ground beetles (Carabidae) and edge effect in oak-hornbeam forest and grassland transects. European Journal of Soil Biology 37: 297–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J. 1997. Invertebrates and boreal forest management. Conservation Biology 11: 601–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J. 1999. Management in relation to disturbance in the boreal forest. Forest Ecology and Management 115: 127–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J. and Spence J.R. 1994. Distribution of forest dwelling carabids (Coleoptera): spatial scale and the concept of communities. Ecography 17: 166–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J., Haila Y., Halme E., Pajunen T. and Punttila P. 1992. Small-scale heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of carabid beetles in the southern Finnish taiga. Journal of Biogeography 19: 173–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J., Langor D. and Spence J.R. 1993. Effects of clear-cut harvesting on boreal ground-beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in western Canada. Conservation Biology 7: 551–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J., Haila Y. and Punttila P. 1996. The importance of small-scale heterogeneity in boreal forests: variation in diversity in forest-floor invertebrates across the succession gradient. Ecography 19: 352–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penev L. 1996. Large-scale variation in carabid assemblages, with special reference to the local fauna concept. Annales Zoologici Fennici 33: 49–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickett S.T.A. and White P.S. (eds) 1985. The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sergeeva T.K. 1994. Seasonal dynamics of interspecific trophic relations in a carabid beetle assemblage. In: Desender K. et al. (eds), Carabid Beetles: Ecology and Evolution. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 367–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal R.R. and Rohlf F.J. 1981. Biometry. W.H. Freeman, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence J.R. and Niemelä J. 1994. Sampling carabid assemblages with pitfall traps: the madness and the method. Canadian Entomologist 126: 881–894.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spence J.R., Langor D.W., Niemelä J., Cárcamo H.A. and Currie C.R. 1996. Northern forestry and carabids: the case for concern about old-growth species. Annales Zoologici Fennici 33: 173–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thiele H.U. 1977. Carabid Beetles in Their Environments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tóthmérész B. 1993. NuCoSA 1.0: Number Cruncher for Community Studies and other Ecological Applications. Abstracta Botanica 17: 283–287.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Debrecen University, P.O. Box 3, H-4010, Debrecen, Hungary

    Tibor Magura & Tibor Magura

  2. Ecological Institute, Debrecen University, P.O. Box 71, H-4010, Debrecen, Hungary

    Béla Tóthmérész & Zoltán Elek

Authors
  1. Tibor Magura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Béla Tóthmérész
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zoltán Elek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tibor Magura.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Magura, T., Tóthmérész, B. & Elek, Z. Impacts of Leaf-litter Addition on Carabids in a Conifer Plantation. Biodivers Conserv 14, 475–491 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-7307-8

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-7307-8

Search

Navigation