Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing the effects of vegetation type on hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) diversity in a Mediterranean landscape: implications for conservation

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Journal of Insect Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Understanding the responses of insects to ecological variables provides information that is fundamental for their conservation. The present study took place in three different landscapes (three plots of 10 × 10 km each) in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem of a Spanish national park. Each landscape included three vegetation types, grasslands, scrublands, and woodlands, and was characterised by a dominant vegetation type. Our objectives were: (1) to assess how important the influence of the dominant vegetation type and the vegetation type of sites are on hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) diversity at landscape scale; (2) to assess whether scrublands are contributing to the loss of hoverfly diversity in an ecosystem with a long history of human use. In order to achieve these goals, we compared hoverfly diversity among sampling sites by prospecting all three diversity levels, alpha, beta and gamma, at each landscape. We sampled adult hoverflies at 18 sites located in different vegetation types within the three landscapes. No evidence was found that demonstrated an effect of the dominant vegetation type on alpha or beta diversity of sites, but the vegetation type of sites did have an affect. The highest species richness was found in woodland sites, particularly in the grassland-dominated landscape. At each landscape, beta diversity among sampling sites contributed more to gamma diversity than alpha diversity did. Our results highlight the need to focus on the conservation of woodland remnants of grassland-dominated landscape and scrubland-dominated landscape in order to preserve a large proportion of the biodiversity of Cabañeros hoverflies, as well as on the maintenance of the mosaic landscape, which is linked to high beta diversity, typical in many Mediterranean ecosystems. We emphasise the importance of open clearings in the vast mass of scrubland in the scrubland-dominated landscape in order to provide extra resources for the hoverflies.

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.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen HD (2003) Response of past and present Mediterranean ecosystems to environmental change. Progr Phys Geogr 27:359–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ås S (1999) Invasion of matrix species in small habitat patches. Conservat Ecol [online] 3(1):1. http://www.consecol.org/vol3/iss1/art1/

  • Bignal EM, McCracken DI (2000) The nature conservation value of European traditional farming systems. Environ Rev 8:149–171

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Billeter R, Liira J, Bailey D, Bugter R, Arens P, Augenstein I, Aviron S, Baudry J, Bukacek R, Burel F, Cerny M, De Blust G, De Cock R, Diekötter T, Dietz H, Dirksen J, Dormann C, Durka W, Frenzel M, Hamersky R, Hendrickx F, Herzog F, Klotz S, Koolstra B, Lausch A, Le Coeur D, Maelfait JP, Opdam P, Roubalova M, Schermann A, Schermann N, Schmidt T, Schweiger O, Smulders MJM, Speelmans M, Simova P, Verboom J, van Wingerden WKRE, Zobel M (2008) Indicators for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: a pan-European study. J Appl Ecol 45(1):141–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branquart E, Hemptinne J-L (2000) Selectivity in the exploitation of floral resources by hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae). Ecography 23:732–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgio G, Sommaggio D (2007) Syrphids as landscape bioindicators in Italian agroecosystems. Agr Ecosyst Environ 120:416–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Gorley RN (2001) PRIMER v5: user manual/tutorial. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth

    Google Scholar 

  • Colwell RK (2006) EstimateS: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 8.0. User’s guide and application published at http://purl.oclc.org/estimates

  • Colwell RK, Coddington JA (1994) Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond B 345:101–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cook WM, Lane KT, Foster BL, Holt RD (2002) Island theory, matrix effects and species richness patterns in habitat fragments. Ecol Lett 5:619–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devictor V, Jiguet F (2006) Community richness and stability in agricultural landscapes: the importance of surrounding habitats. Agr Ecosyst Environ 120(2–4):179–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Farina A (2006) Principles and methods in landscape ecology: towards a science of the landscape (landscape series). Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Fayt P, Hastir P, Pontegnie C, Henin JM, Versteirt V (2006) Contrasting responses of saproxylic insects to focal habitat resources: the example of longhorn beetles and hoverflies in Belgian deciduous forests. J Insect Conserv 10(2):129–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-González F, Pérez-Badía R (2004) El Bosque Mediterráneo, Flora y vegetación. In: Canseco Editores SL, OrganismoAutónomoParques Nacionales (eds) La Red de Parques Nacionales de España. Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales, Madrid, pp 251–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel D, Roschewitz I, Tscharntke T, Thies C (2006) Beta diversity at different spatial scales: plant communities in organic and conventional agriculture. Ecol Appl 16(5):2011–2021

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaucherel C (2007) Multiscale heterogeneity map and associated scaling profile for landscape analysis. Landsc. Urban Plann 82(3):95–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gittings T, O’Halloran J, Kelly T, Giller PS (2006) The contribution of open spaces to the maintenance of hoverfly (Diptera, Syrphidae) biodiversity in Irish plantation forests. Forest Ecol Manag 237:290–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Colwell RK (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol Lett 4:379–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzmán JN (1997) Mamíferos. In: García-Canseco V, Alonso-Valero L (coord) Parque Nacional de Cabañeros. Ecohábitat. Ciudad Real, pp 225–267

  • Haber W (2004) Landscape ecology as a bridge from ecosystems to human ecology. Ecol Res 19(1):99–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halffter G (1998) A strategy for measuring landscape biodiversity. Biol Int 36:3–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Haslett JR (1994) Community structure and the fractal dimensions of mountain habitats. J Theor Biol 167:407–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haslett JR (1997) Insect communities and the spatial complexity of mountain habitats. Global Ecol Biogeogr Lett 6:49–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrickx F, Maelfait J-P, van Wingerden W, Schweiger O, Speelmans M, Aviron S, Augenstein I, Billeter R, Bailey D, Bukacek R, Burel F, Diekötter T, Dirksen J, Herzog F, Liira J, Roubalova M, Vandomme V, Bugter R (2007) How landscape structure, land-use intensity and habitat diversity affect components of total arthropod diversity in agricultural landscapes. J Appl Ecol 44:340–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández M (1997) Paisajes agrarios y medio ambiente en Alicante. Evolución e impactos medioambientales en los paisajes agrarios alicantinos: 1950–1995. Universidad de Alicante, Alicante

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurkmans WEG (1985) Territorial behaviour of two Merodon species (Diptera: Syrphidae). Entomol Ber (Amst) 45(6):69–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurkmans WEG (1993) A monograph of Merodon (Diptera:Syrphidae). Part 1. Tijdschr Entomol 136:147–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohler F, Verhulst J, van Klink R, Kleijn D (2008) At what spatial scale do high-quality habitats enhance the diversity of forbs and pollinators in intensively farmed landscapes? J Appl Ecol 45(3):753–762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lande R (1996) Statistics and partitioning of species diversity, and similarity among multiple communities. Oikos 76:5–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loreau M (2000) Are communities saturated? On the relationship between alpha, beta and gamma diversity. Ecol Lett 3:73–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lumaret JP, Kirk AA (1991) South temperate dung beetles. In: Hasaki I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung Beetle Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 97–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcos-García MA (2006) Caliprobola speciosa (Rossi, 1790), Mallota dusmeti Andréu, 1926 and Meligramma cingulata (Egger, 1860). In: Verdú JR, Galante E (eds) Libro Rojo de los Invertebrados de España. Dirección General para la Biodiversidad, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Madrid, pp 173–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministerio de Medio Ambiente de España (2006) Informe de Coyuntura del MIMAM (Síntesis de 2005). www.mma.es/portal/secciones/info_estadistica_ambiental/estadisticas_info/informes_coyuntura/ (Dec. 4, 2007)

  • Muñoz J (1976) Los Montes de Toledo. Estudio de Geografía Física. Departamento de Geografía Física e Instituto Juan Sebastián Elcano. CSIC, Oviedo

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy HT, Lovett-Doust J (2004) Context and connectivity in plant metapopulations and landscape mosaics: does the matrix matter? Oikos 105:3–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Numa C, Verdú JR, Sánchez A, Galante E (2009) Effect of landscape structure on the spatial distribution of Mediterranean dung beetle diversity. Diversity Distrib 15:489–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouin A, Sarthou J-P, Bouyjou B, Deconchat M, Lacombe J-P, Monteil C (2006) The species-area relationship in the hoverfly (Diptera, Syrphidae) communities of forest fragments in southern France. Ecography 29:183–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen J, Gilbert FS (1989) On the abundance of hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae). Oikos 55(2):183–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pineda EO, Halffter G, Moreno CE, Escobar F (2005) Transformation of cloud forest into coffee agroecosystems: changes in alpha and beta diversity for three faunal taxa. Conserv Biol 19(2):400–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollard E, Yates TJ (1993) Aims and methods of monitoring. In: Institute of terrestrial ecology and joint nature conservation committee (ed) Monitoring butterflies for ecology and conservation. The British butterfly monitoring scheme. Conservation biology series, Chapman and Hall 2, London, pp 10–13

  • Ricarte A, Marcos-García MA (2008) Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Cabañeros National Park (Spain): a tool for the management. Bol Asoc Esp Entomol 32(1–2):19–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricarte A, Marcos-García MA (2010) First record of the rare European endemic Sphiximorpha binominata (Verrall) (Diptera: Syrphidae) for the Iberian Peninsula. Arch Biol Sci 62(4):1215–1217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricarte A, Marcos-García MA, Pérez-Bañón C, Rotheray GE (2007) The early stages and breeding sites of four rare saproxylic hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) from Spain. J Nat Hist 41(25–28):1717–1730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricarte A, Marcos-García MA, Rotheray GE (2008) The early stages and life histories of three Eumerus and two Merodon species (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Mediterranean region. Entomol Fennica 19(2):129–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Rooney TP, Olden JD, Leach MK, Rogers DA (2007) Biotic homogenization and conservation prioritization. Biol Conservat 134:447–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotheray GE, Hancock G, Hewitt S, Horsfield D, MacGowan I, Robertson D, Watt K (2001) The biodiversity and conservation of saproxylic Diptera in Scotland. J Insect Conservat 5:77–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweiger O, Musche M, Bailey D, Billeter R, Diekötter T, Hendrickx F, Herzog F, Liira J, Maelfait J-P, Speelmans M, Dziock F (2007) Functional richness of local hoverfly communities (Diptera, Syrphidae) in response to land use across temperate Europe. Oikos 116:461–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shmida A, Wilson MV (1985) Biological determinants of species diversity. J Biogeogr 12:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speight MCD (1989) Saproxylic invertebrates and their conservation. Nature and Environment Series 42, Strasbourg

  • Speight MCD (2010) Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera).2010. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, vol 59. Syrph the Net publications, Dublin, p 285

    Google Scholar 

  • Steffan-Dewenter I (2003) Importance of habitat area and landscape context for species richness of bees and wasps in fragmented orchard Meadows. Conserv Biol 17(4):1036–1044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland JP, Sullivan MS, Poppy GM (2001) Distribution and abundance of aphidophagous hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) in wildflower patches and field margin habitats. Agr Forest Entomol 3(1):57–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson FC, Rotheray GE (1998) Family Syrphidae. In: Papp L, Darvas B (eds) Contributions to a Manual of Palaeartic Diptera. Science Herald, Budapest, pp 81–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero J (1997) Clima, flora vascular y vegetación. In: García-Canseco V, Alonso-Valero L (coord) Parque Nacional de Cabañeros. Ecohábitat. Ciudad Real, pp 70–154

  • Veech JA, Summerville KS, Crist TO, Gering JC (2002) The additive partitioning of species diversity: recent revival of an old idea. Oikos 99:3–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velasco A (1978) Contribución al estudio de la flora y vegetación de la comarca granítica toledana y Montes de Toledo (tramo oriental). PhD Thesis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Madrid

  • Verdú JR, Crespo MB, Galante E (2000) Conservation strategy of a nature reserve in Mediterranean ecosystems: the effects of protection from grazing on biodiversity. Biodivers Conserv 9:1707–1721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verdú JR, Moreno CE, Sánchez–Rojas G, Numa C, Galante E, Halffter G (2007) Grazing promotes dung beetle diversity in the xeric landscape of a Mexican Biosphere Reserve. Biol Conservat 140(3–4):308–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner HH, Wildi O, Ewald KC (2000) Additive partitioning of plant species diversity in an agricultural mosaic landscape. Landsc Ecol 15:219–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welsh HH Jr, Hodgson GR, Lind AJ (2005) Ecogeography of the herpetofauna of a northern California watershed: linking species patterns to landscape processes. Ecography 28(4):521–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker RH (1972) Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon 21:213–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens JA, Stenseth NC, van Horne B, Ims RA (1993) Ecological mechanisms and landscape ecology. Oikos 66(3):369–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zamora J, Verdú JR, Galante E (2006) Species richness in Mediterranean agroecosystems: Spatial and temporal analysis for biodiversity conservation. Biol Conservat 134:113–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We kindly thank the staff of the Cabañeros National Park for facilitating the fieldwork and M. Lillo, A. Ricarte-Bernabeu, R. Sabater, M.Á. Bermúdez, and I. Torregrosa for assisting with some of the numerous fieldwork trips. We thank A.P. Martínez-Falcón, Dr. C. Numa, and Dr. J.R. Verdú for useful scientific discussions. We also thank Tim Shreeve and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and corrections to make this a better manuscript. Financial support was provided by the Spanish “Ministerio de Medio Ambiente” (040/2002), the “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (grant AP 2003-4001, projects CGL2005-07213/BOS, CGL2006-13847-C02-01/BOS, CGL2008-04472, and CGL2009-09656/BOS), the “Conselleria d’Empresa, Universitat i Ciència, Generalitat Valenciana” (ACOMP06/063), and the “Universidad de Alicante” (GRE04-13).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Antonio Ricarte

    Present address: Natural Sciences, National Museums Collection Centre, National Museums Scotland, 242 West Granton Road, Edinburgh, EH5 1JA, Scotland, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Universitario de Investigación, CIBIO, Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad, University of Alicante, 03690, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain

    Antonio Ricarte & M. Ángeles Marcos-García

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Apartado Postal 69 Plaza Juárez, 42001, Pachuca, Hidalgo, México

    Claudia E. Moreno

Authors
  1. Antonio Ricarte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Ángeles Marcos-García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Claudia E. Moreno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Ricarte.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 4.

Table 4 Number of individuals of hoverfly species collected at sites with different vegetation types (g grasslands, s scrublands, w woodlands), imbedded in three landscapes with a particular dominant vegetation type (G grassland, S scrubland, W woodland) at Cabañeros National Park, Spain
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ricarte, A., Ángeles Marcos-García, M. & Moreno, C.E. Assessing the effects of vegetation type on hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) diversity in a Mediterranean landscape: implications for conservation. J Insect Conserv 15, 865–877 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9384-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9384-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation