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An indicator system for identification of sites of high conservation value for saproxylic oak (Quercus spp.) beetles in southern Sweden

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Abstract

The saproxylic beetle fauna on old oaks was sampled in four regions of southern Sweden using two methods: window and pitfall trapping. The aim was to test a way of finding indicator species which can be used to identify sites with high species number or that scored high on a conservation priority species index, based on occurrence of red-listed species. From 92 sites surveyed, in total 164 species of saproxylic beetles were identified. Different sets of indicator species were selected based upon 22 sites from a centrally located region. Predictions of species number and the index for 30 other sites from the same province were made. The correlation between observed and predicted species number and the index increased with increasing number of indicators. When comparing different treatment of species indata, the explanatory power of predictions was strongest for presence/absence data. Indicator sets of species effectively caught with pitfall traps gave overall the best predictions of both species number and the index. Predictions of species number and the index worked well within the same regions but gave varied result for the three other regions which shows that transferability of indicators between regions may be doubtful.

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Acknowledgements

Rickard Andersson and Stig Lundberg have helped us with identification of parts of the beetle material. The study was financially supported by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, The County Administration Board of Östergötland (NJ) and Stiftelsen Oscar och Lili Lamms minne (NJ). We thank two anonymous referees for valuable comments.

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  1. Per Milberg

    Present address: Department of Crop Production Ecology, SLU, Box 7043, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFM Biology, Division of Ecology, Linköping University, 581 83, Linkoping, Sweden

    Nicklas Jansson, Karl-Olof Bergman & Per Milberg

  2. Department of Ecology, SLU, Box 7044, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Mats Jonsell

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  1. Nicklas Jansson
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  2. Karl-Olof Bergman
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Correspondence to Nicklas Jansson.

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Jansson, N., Bergman, KO., Jonsell, M. et al. An indicator system for identification of sites of high conservation value for saproxylic oak (Quercus spp.) beetles in southern Sweden. J Insect Conserv 13, 399–412 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9187-9

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