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“Primeval forest relict beetles” of Central Europe: a set of 168 umbrella species for the protection of primeval forest remnants

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Abstract

Identification of forest stands with priority for the conservation of biodiversity is of particular importance in landscapes with a long cultural and agricultural history, such as Central Europe. A group of species with a high indicator value for the naturalness of forest ecosystems are saproxylic insects. Some of these species, especially within the order Coleoptera, have been described as primeval forests relicts. Here, we compiled a list of 168 “primeval forest relict species” of saproxylic beetles based on expert knowledge. These species can serve as focal and umbrella species for forest conservation in Central Europe. They were selected because of their dependence on the continuous presence of primeval forest habitat features, such as over-mature trees, high amounts of dead wood, and dead wood diversity, as well as their absence in managed Central European forests. These primeval forest relict species showed a moderately strong clumping pattern within the phylogeny of beetles, as indicated by phylogenetic signal testing using the D-statistic. When we controlled for phylogenetic relatedness, an ordinal linear model revealed that large body size and preference for dead wood and trees of large diameter are the main characteristics of these species. This list of species can be used to identify forest stands of conservation value throughout Central Europe, to prioritize conservation and to raise public awareness for conservation issues related to primeval forests.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Erich Mayrhofer, Erich Weigand and their team at the Kalkalpen National Park (Austria) for assistance during the workshop and financial support; Ottó Merkl (Budapest, HNHM) for advice on species selection; and Jerzy M. Gutowski, Lech Buchholtz, Andrzej Melke, Karol Komosiński (Poland), O. Konvička (Zlín), D. Hauck (Brno), P. Průdek (Brno), and J. Vávra (Ostrava) for advice on the distribution and status of several primeval forest relict species.

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Correspondence to Andreas Eckelt.

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Table 4 List of Central European primeval forest relict species of saproxylic beetles compiled in September 2016

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Eckelt, A., Müller, J., Bense, U. et al. “Primeval forest relict beetles” of Central Europe: a set of 168 umbrella species for the protection of primeval forest remnants. J Insect Conserv 22, 15–28 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-017-0028-6

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