Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The impact of hedge-forest connectivity and microhabitat conditions on spider and carabid beetle assemblages in agricultural landscapes

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

Abstract

Agricultural intensification in terms of decreasing landscape complexity and connectivity has negatively affected biodiversity. Linear landscape elements composed of woody vegetation like hedges may counteract this negative trend by providing habitats and enhancing habitat connectivity for different organisms. Here, we tested the impacts of habitat type (forest edges vs. hedges) and hedges’ isolation (connected vs. isolated hedges) from forests as well as microhabitat conditions (percentage of bare ground and width) on trait-specific occurrence of ground-dwelling arthropods, namely spiders and carabids. Arthropods were grouped by habitat specialisation (forest vs. open-habitat species vs. generalists), hunting strategy (web-building or hunting spiders) and dispersal ability (wing morphology of carabids). Spider and carabid assemblage composition was strongly influenced by habitat type and isolation, but not by microhabitat conditions. Activity density of forest species and brachypterous carabids was higher in forest edges compared to hedges, whereas open-habitat species and macropterous carabids showed reverse patterns, with no effects of isolation. Occurrence of generalist carabids, but not spiders, was higher in hedges compared to forest edges. Habitat type and isolation did not affect spiders with different hunting strategy. Microhabitat conditions were less important for spider and carabid occurrence. Our study concludes that on a landscape scale, type of linear woody habitat is more important for arthropod occurrence than isolation effects and microhabitat conditions, depending on traits. Hedges provide refuges for species specialised to open habitats and species with high dispersal ability, such as macropterous carabids. Forest edges enhance persistence of species specialised to forests and species with low dispersal ability, such as brachypterous carabids.

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

  • Angewandte Carabidologie Supplement V (2009) Lebensraumpräferenzen der Laufkäfer Deutschlands—Wissensbasierter Katalog. In: Gesellschaft für Angewandte Carabidologie e. V. (ed) GAC, Münster

  • Aviron S, Burel F, Baudry J, Schermann N (2005) Carabid assemblages in agricultural landscapes: impacts of habitat features, landscape context at different spatial scales and farming intensity. Agric Ecosyst Environ 108:205–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey S (2007) Increasing connectivity in fragmented landscapes: an investigation of evidence for biodiversity gain in woodlands. Forest Ecol Manag 238:7–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbaro L, van Halder I (2009) Linking bird, carabid beetle and butterfly life-history traits to habitat fragmentation in mosaic landscapes. Ecography 32:321–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batáry P, Holzschuh A, Orci KM, Samu F, Tscharntke T (2012a) Responses of plant, insect and spider biodiversity to local and landscape scale management intensity in cereal crops and grasslands. Agric Ecosyst Environ 146:130–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batáry P, Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Fischer C, Tscharntke T, Holzschuh A (2012b) Contrasting effect of isolation of hedges from forests on farmland vs. woodland birds. Community Ecol 13:155–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baudry J, Bunce RGH, Burel F (2000) Hedgerows: an international perspective on their origin, function and management. J Environ Manag 60:7–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benton TG, Vickery JA, Wilson JD (2003) Farmland biodiversity: is habitat heterogeneity the key? Trends Ecol Evol 18:182–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blandenier G, Fürst P-A (1998) Ballooning spiders caught by a suction trap in an agricultural landscape in Switzerland. In: Selden PA (ed) Proceedings of the 17th European Colloquium of Arachnology, Edinburgh, pp 177–186

  • Bonte D, Vandenbroecke N, Lens L, Maelfait JP (2003) Low propensity for aerial dispersal in specialist spiders from fragmented landscapes. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:1601–1607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchar J, Ruzicka V (2002) Catalogue of spiders of the Czech Republic. Peres Publishers, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucher R, Herrmann J, Schüepp C, Herzog F, Entling M (2010) Arthropod colonisation of trees in fragmented landscapes depends on species traits. Open Ecol J 3:111–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Buddle CM, Higgins S, Rypstra AL (2004) Ground-dwelling spider assemblages inhabiting riparian forests and hedgerows in an agricultural landscape. Am Midl Nat 151:15–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burel F (1989) Landscape structure effects on carabid beetles spatial patterns in western France. Landsc Ecol 2:215–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burel F, Butet A, Delettre YR, Millán de la Peña N (2004) Differential response of selected taxa to landscape context and agricultural intensification. Landsc Urban Plan 67:195–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso P, Silva I, De Oliveira NG, Serrano ARM (2007) Seasonality of spiders (Araneae) in Mediterranean ecosystems and its implications in the optimum sampling period. Ecol Entomol 32:516–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole LJ, McCracken DI, Dennis P, Downie IS, Griffin AL, Foster GN, Murphy KJ, Waterhouse T (2002) Relationships between agricultural management and ecological groups of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on Scottish farmland. Agric Ecosyst Environ 93:323–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bello F, Lavorel S, Diaz S, Harrington R, Cornelissen JHC, Bardgett RD, Berg MP, Cipriotti P, Feld CK, Hering D, da Silva PM, Potts SG, Sandin L, Sousa JP, Storkey J, Wardle DA, Harrison PA (2010) Towards an assessment of multiple ecosystem processes and services via functional traits. Biodivers Conserv 19:2873–2893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entling W, Schmidt MH, Bacher S, Brandl R, Nentwig W (2007) Niche properties of Central European spiders: shading, moisture and the evolution of the habitat niche. Global Ecol Biogeogr 16:440–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entling MH, Stampfli K, Ovaskainen O (2011) Increased propensity for aerial dispersal in disturbed habitats due to intraspecific variation and species turnover. Oikos 120:1099–1109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewers RM, Didham RK (2006) Confounding factors in the detection of species responses to habitat fragmentation. Biol Rev 81:117–142

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Flynn DFB, Gogol-Prokurat M, Nogeire T, Molinari N, Richers BT, Lin BB, Simpson N, Mayfield MM, DeClerck F (2009) Loss of functional diversity under land use intensification across multiple taxa. Ecol Lett 12:22–33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fournier E, Loreau M (1999) Effects of newly planted hedges on ground-beetle diversity (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in an agricultural landscape. Ecography 22:87–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallé R (2008) The effect of a naturally fragmented landscape on the spider assemblages. North-West J Zool 4:61–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Geiger F, Bengtsson J, Berendse F, Weisser WW, Emmerson M, Morales MB, Ceryngier P, Liira J, Tscharntke T, Winqvist C, Eggers S, Bommarco R, Pärt T, Bretagnolle V, Plantegenest M, Clement LW, Dennis C, Palmer C, Oñate JJ, Guerrero I, Hawro V, Aavik T, Thies C, Flohre A, Hänke S, Fischer C, Goedhart PW, Inchausti P (2010) Persistent negative effects of pesticides on biodiversity and biological control potential on European farmland. Basic Appl Ecol 11:97–105

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gelling M, Macdonald DW, Mathews F (2007) Are hedgerows the route to increased farmland small mammal density? Use of hedgerows in British pastoral habitats. Landsc Ecol 22:1019–1032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gongalsky KB, Cividanes FJ (2008) Distribution of carabid beetles in agroecosystems across spatial scales—a review. Baltic J Coleopterol 8:15–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurdebeke S, De Bakker D, Vanlanduyt N, Maelfait JP (2003) Plans for a large regional forest in eastern Flanders (Belgium): assessment of spider diversity and community structure in the current forest remnants. Biodivers Conserv 12:1883–1900

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrickx F, Maelfait JP, Desender K, Aviron S, Bailey D, Diekotter T, Lens L, Liira J, Schweiger O, Speelmans M, Vandomme V, Bugter R (2009) Pervasive effects of dispersal limitation on within- and among-community species richness in agricultural landscapes. Global Ecol Biogeogr 18:607–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrmann JD, Bailey D, Hofer G, Herzog F, Schmidt-Entling MH (2010) Spiders associated with the meadow and tree canopies of orchards respond differently to habitat fragmentation. Landsc Ecol 25:1375–1384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinsley SA, Bellamy PE (2000) The influence of hedge structure, management and landscape context on the value of hedgerows to birds: a review. J Environ Manag 60:33–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland JM, Smith BM, Birkett TC, Southway S (2012) Farmland bird invertebrate food provision in arable crops. Ann Appl Biol 160:66–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jelaska LS, Durbesic P (2009) Comparison of the body size and wing form of carabid species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) between isolated and continuous forest habitats. Ann Soc Entomol Fr 45:327–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings VH, Tallamy DW (2006) Composition and abundance of ground-dwelling Coleoptera in a fragmented and continuous forest. Environ Entomol 35:1550–1560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koch K (1989) Die Käfer Mitteleuropas Ökologie 1. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotze DJ, Brandmayr P, Casale A, Dauffy-Richard E, Dekoninck W, Koivula MJ, Lövei GL, Mossakowski D, Noordijk J, Paarmann W, Pizzolotto R, Saska P, Schwerk A, Serrano J, Szyszko J, Taboada A, Turin H, Venn S, Vermeulen R, Zetto T (2011) Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe—from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation. Zookeys 100:55–148

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landis DA, Wratten SD, Gurr GM (2000) Habitat management to conserve natural enemies of arthropod pests in agriculture. Annu Rev Entomol 45:175–201

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magura T, Ködöböcz V, Tóthmérész B (2001) Effects of habitat fragmentation on carabids in forest patches. J Biogeogr 28:129–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marc P, Canard A, Ysnel F (1999) Spiders (Araneae) useful for pest limitation and bioindication. Agric Ecosyst Environ 74:229–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maudsley M, Seeley B, Lewis O (2002) Spatial distribution patterns of predatory arthropods within an English hedgerow in early winter in relation to habitat variables. Agric Ecosyst Environ 89:77–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel N, Burel F, Butet A (2006) How does landscape use influence small mammal diversity, abundance and biomass in hedgerow networks of farming landscapes? Acta Oecol 30:11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millán de la Peña N, Butet A, Delettre Y, Morant P, Burel F (2003) Landscape context and carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities of hedgerows in western France. Agric Ecosyst Environ 94:59–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nentwig W, Blick T, Gloor D, Hänggi A, Kropf C (2011) Spiders of Europe. version 6.2011. http://www.araneae.unibe.ch. Accessed 24 Oct 2011

  • Niemelä J (2001) Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and habitat fragmentation: a review. Eur J Entomol 98:127–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemelä J, Pajunen T, Haila Y, Punttila P, Halme E (1994) Seasonal activity of boreal forest-floor spiders (Araneae). J Arachnol 22:23–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2012) vegan: community ecology package. R package version 2.0-4

  • Pajunen T, Haila Y, Halme E, Niemelä J, Punttila P (1995) Ground-dwelling spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) in fragmented old forests and surrounding managed forests in Southern Finland. Ecography 18:62–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petit S, Usher MB (1998) Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: the ground beetle communities of woody uncultivated habitats. Biodivers Conserv 7:1549–1561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro JC, Bates DM (2000) Mixed-effects models in S and S-PLUS. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D, the R Development Core Team (2012) nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package version 3.1-103

  • Prieto-Benítez S, Méndez M (2011) Effects of land management on the abundance and richness of spiders (Araneae): a meta-analysis. Biol Conserv 144:683–691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pywell RF, James KL, Herbert I, Meek WR, Carvell C, Bell D, Sparks TH (2005) Determinants of overwintering habitat quality for beetles and spiders on arable farmland. Biol Conserv 123:79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2012) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available from http://www.R-project.org/

  • Schmidt MH, Roschewitz I, Thies C, Tscharntke T (2005) Differential effects of landscape and management on diversity and density of ground-dwelling farmland spiders. J Appl Ecol 42:281–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taboada A, Kotze DJ, Salgado JM (2004) Carabid beetle occurrence at the edges of oak and beech forests in NW Spain. Eur J Entomol 101:555–563

    Google Scholar 

  • Taboada A, Kotze DJ, Salgado JM, Tarrega R (2011) The value of semi-natural grasslands for the conservation of carabid beetles in long-term managed forested landscapes. J Insect Conserv 15:573–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thies C, Haenke S, Scherber C, Bengtsson J, Bommarco R, Clement LW, Ceryngier P, Dennis C, Emmerson M, Gagic V, Hawro V, Liira J, Weisser WW, Winqvist C, Tscharntke T (2011) The relationship between agricultural intensification and biological control: experimental tests across Europe. Ecol Appl 21:2187–2196

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas CFG, Parkinson L, Griffiths GJK, Garcia AF, Marshall EJP (2001) Aggregation and temporal stability of carabid beetle distributions in field and hedgerow habitats. J Appl Ecol 38:100–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toft S, Lövei GL (2002) The epigeic spider fauna of single-row hedges in a Danish agricultural landscape. In: Toft S, Scharff N (eds) European arachnology 2000: 19th European colloquium of arachnology, Aarhus, Denmark 17–22 July 2000. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, pp 237–242

  • Traba J, Morales MB, de la Morena ELG, Delgado MP, Kristin A (2008) Selection of breeding territory by little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) males in Central Spain: the role of arthropod availability. Ecol Res 23:615–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tscharntke T, Tylianakis JM, Rand TA, Didham RK, Fahrig L, Batáry P, Bengtsson J, Clough Y, Crist TO, Dormann CF, Ewers RW, Fründ J, Holt RD, Holzschuh A, Klein AM, Kleijn D, Kremen C, Landis DA, Laurance W, Lindenmayer D, Scherber C, Sodhi N, Steffan-Dewent I, Thies C, van der Putten WH, Westphal C (2012) Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes—eight hypotheses. Biol Rev 87:661–685

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Varchola JM, Dunn JP (2001) Influence of hedgerow and grassy field borders on ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) activity in fields of corn. Agric Ecosyst Environ 83:153–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varet M, Petillon J, Burel F (2011) Comparative responses of spider and carabid beetle assemblages along an urban-rural boundary gradient. J Arachnol 39:236–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venables WN, Ripley BD (2002) Modern applied statistics with S. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wamser S, Diekötter T, Boldt L, Wolters V, Dauber J (2010) Trait-specific effects of habitat isolation on carabid species richness and community composition in managed grasslands. Insect Conserv Diver 5:9–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wise DH (2006) Cannibalism, food limitation, intraspecific competition and the regulation of spider populations. Annu Rev Entomol 51:441–465

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank A. Kovács-Hostyánszki and B. Jauker for help with the selection of study sites, G. Lövei and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments, and V. Ködöböcz for identification of carabids. P.B. was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Bolyai Research Fellowship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Restoration Ecology, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 6, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Christina Fischer

  2. Agroecology, Department for Crop Sciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Christina Fischer, Hella Schlinkert, Teja Tscharntke & Péter Batáry

  3. Institute of Plant Diseases and Plant Protection, Leibniz University Hannover, Herrenhäuser Straße 2, 30419, Hannover, Germany

    Martin Ludwig

  4. Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Andrea Holzschuh

  5. Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, 6726, Szeged, Hungary

    Róbert Gallé

  6. MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, Pázmány P. s. 1C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary

    Péter Batáry

Authors
  1. Christina Fischer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hella Schlinkert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martin Ludwig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andrea Holzschuh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Róbert Gallé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Teja Tscharntke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Péter Batáry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christina Fischer.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fischer, C., Schlinkert, H., Ludwig, M. et al. The impact of hedge-forest connectivity and microhabitat conditions on spider and carabid beetle assemblages in agricultural landscapes. J Insect Conserv 17, 1027–1038 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-013-9586-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-013-9586-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation