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Importance of habitat patch size for occupancy and density of aspen-associated saproxylic beetles

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Abstract

In Fennoscandian boreal forests, aspen (Populus tremula) is one of the most important tree species for biodiversity. In this study we explore how occupancy and density of beetles associated with dead aspen are related to habitat patch size and connectedness in a 45,000 ha boreal managed forest landscape in central Sweden. Patch size was estimated as amount of breeding substrate and connectedness as crown cover of living aspen in the surrounding landscape. The beetles were sampled by sieving of bark or by inspection of species-characteristic galleries in 56 patches with dead aspen. Six of nine aspen-associated species (Xylotrechus rusticus, Ptilinus fuscus, Mycetophagus fulvicollis, Cyphaea curtula, Homalota plana and Endomychus coccineus) showed a positive significant relationship between habitat patch size and occupancy. For all these species, except C. curtula, there was also a significant positive relationship between patch size and density. Connectedness was not retained as a significant variable in the analyses. Species not defined as aspen-associated constituted a significantly larger proportion of the total density of individuals of saproxylic beetles in smaller habitat patches than in larger patches. Richness of aspen-associated species was positively related to habitat patch size. Efforts in the managed forest should be directed towards preserving and creating larger patches of living and dead aspen trees and increasing the amount of aspen at the landscape level.

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Abbreviations

CWD:

Coarse woody debris

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Acknowledgements

Atte Komonen and Thomas Ranius provided valuable comments on the manuscript. Support for this study came from the projects ‘Conservation of Biodiversity in Managed Forests’ (grants to Stig Larsson and Kjell Danell) financed by the Faculty of Forestry at The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Holmen Skog AB generously provided maps, aerial photographs and hosted our field study. P.G. Jacobsson and Ola Kårén from Holmen Skog AB provided important information about the study landscape. Kalle Sahlin, Kurt Sahlin, Lena Wedmo, Robert Wedmo, Jan ten Hoopen and David Isaksson assisted in the field.

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  1. Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7044, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Erik Sahlin & Leif Martin Schroeder

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  1. Erik Sahlin
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  2. Leif Martin Schroeder
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Correspondence to Leif Martin Schroeder.

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Sahlin, E., Schroeder, L.M. Importance of habitat patch size for occupancy and density of aspen-associated saproxylic beetles. Biodivers Conserv 19, 1325–1339 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9764-6

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