Abstract
The “dehesa” is a traditional Iberian agrosilvopastoral ecosystem characterized by the presence of old scattered trees that are considered as “keystone-structures”, which favor the presence of a wide range of biodiversity. We show the high diversity of saproxylic beetles and syrphids (Diptera) in this ecosystem, including red-listed species. We analyzed whether saproxylic species distribution in the “dehesa” was affected by tree density per hectare, dominant tree species or vegetation coverage. Species diversity did not correlate with tree density; however, it was affected by tree species and shrub coverage but in a different way for each taxon. The highest beetle diversity was linked to Quercus pyrenaica, the most managed tree species, with eight indicator species. In contrast, Q. rotundifolia hosted more species of saproxylic syrphids. Regarding vegetation coverage, shrub coverage was the only variable that affected insect richness, again in a different way for both taxa. In contrast, beetle species composition was only affected by dominant tree species whereas syrphid species composition was not affected by tree species or shrub coverage. We concluded that the high diversity of saproxylic insects in the “dehesa” is related to its long history of agrosilvopastoral management, which has generated landscape heterogeneity and preserved old mature trees. However, the richness and composition of different taxa of insects respond in different ways to tree species and vegetation coverage. Consequently, conservation strategies should try to maintain traditional management, and different saproxylic taxa should be used to monitor the effect of management on saproxylic diversity.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2009-09656, CGL2011-23658 and CGL2012-31669 Projects), by the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2013/034 Project), and the European Comission LIFE-Nature (LIFE-07/NAT/00762 Project). A. R. H. acknowledges the doctoral fellowship provided by the Generalitat Valenciana (GRISOLIA/2010/080). We extend our gratitude for their invaluable support and dedication for species determination to R. Allemand (†), A Herrmann, P Leblanc G Liberti, MJ López-Fernández, T Noblecourt, F Soldati, A Verugo, P Vienna, A Viñolas and JL Zapata de la Vega (saproxylic beetles) and J Quinto (saproxylic syrphids). We are grateful to the botanist J Juan-Vicedo and S Ríos for the estimation of the vegetal coverage and A Padilla for her help in tree density analysis with SIG. We appreciate the statistical support given by and discussions with A García-López, AP Martínez-Falcón and C Numa. Finally we are very grateful to the personnel from the Biological Reserve of Campanarios de Azaba, especially to C Sánchez-Martínez and D Benito-Peñil, for their support during our fieldwork.
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Ramírez-Hernández, A., Micó, E., Marcos-García, M. et al. The “dehesa”, a key ecosystem in maintaining the diversity of Mediterranean saproxylic insects (Coleoptera and Diptera: Syrphidae). Biodivers Conserv 23, 2069–2086 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0705-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0705-7