Abstract
Grazing by domestic stock is widely used in nature reserve management to maintain or restore characteristics of the flora. While the effects on plants are well understood, grazing effects on arthropods are in need of further investigation. We studied the effects of management on grassland arthropod communities at Needingworth, a mixture of grassland and wetland, created after gravel extraction. We hypothesised arthropod abundance and the species richness of Hemiptera and Coleoptera, would be no greater in fenced, ungrazed areas than in cattle-grazed grassland. We used suction sampling to collect grassland arthropods which were initially identified to order level, and then to species or genus level for the Coleoptera and Hemiptera. Abundance of total invertebrates and of all orders, except for Diptera, was greater in ungrazed than grazed grassland. We estimated that the presence of ungrazed grassland resulted in 14.9% greater invertebrate abundance at Needingworth. Community structure showed strong differences in relation to management, particularly in terms number of detritivores. Even the small amount of grassland management at Needingworth had distinct negative impacts arthropod abundance and community structure, and leaving ungrazed areas has the potential to benefit invertebrate biodiversity. We recommend that some grassland patches should remain unmanaged for long periods, as part of a mixed management strategy. Conservation grazing is not the only approach that should be used.
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Authors: Alvin J. Helden, James Chipps, Stephen McCormack, Luiza Pereira. Title: Invertebrates sampled from Needingworth 2014.xlsx. Repository: Figshare. https://doi.org/10.25411/aru.12167577.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to the RSPB and Hanson/Heidelberg Cement who gave us access to the Needingworth site. In particular we would like to thank Hilton Law from Hanson, and Chris Hudson and Barry O’Dowd from the RSPB, for their assistance and encouragement. The project was supported by an Anglia Ruskin University, Faculty of Science and Technology Undergraduate Summer Research Placement for James Chipps. Luiza Pereira worked on the project as part of her Science Without Borders scholarship to Anglia Ruskin University. We thank the Anglia Ruskin University Wildlife Society for providing help in fieldwork and the sorting of suction samples. Specifically we would like to thank, Liam Smith, Steve Allain, Mark Goodman and David Pereira for assisting with the suction sampling, and Steve Allain, Claire Cable, Mark Goodman, Toni Mott and David Pereira for sorting samples. The project was awarded first place in the Heidelberg Cement, UK national Quarry Life Awards for 2014.
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The project was supported by an Anglia Ruskin University, Faculty of Science and Technology Undergraduate Summer Research Placement for James Chipps.
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AJH designed the study, did field work; identified the Hemiptera, did the analysis and wrote the paper; JC did field work, co-ordinated student helpers, and sorted samples to order level; LP did field work, and sorted samples to order level; SM identified the Coleoptera.
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All procedures performed involving animals (as above) were approved by the Anglia Ruskin University Ethics Committee and in accordance with the ethical standards of the Anglia Ruskin University, at which the studies were conducted.
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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. It involved the collection of invertebrate specimens but the sampling design was such that it covered a very small area of the site (0.001% by area) such that the impact on invertebrate populations was minimal. All procedures performed involving animals (as above) were approved by the Anglia Ruskin University Ethics Committee and in accordance with the ethical standards of the Anglia Ruskin University, at which the studies were conducted.
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Helden, A.J., Chipps, J., McCormack, S. et al. Is grazing always the answer to grassland management for arthropod biodiversity? Lessons from a gravel pit restoration project. J Insect Conserv 24, 655–670 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-020-00243-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-020-00243-1