Abstract
Saproxylic beetles may act as bio-indicators of high-quality mature woodlands, and their conservation is strongly linked to the quality and quantity of deadwood in a biotope. We tested the effect of deadwood accumulation and habitat variables on saproxylic species richness by investigating six sampling sites under different deadwood management practices that belong to both alluvial and riparian mixed forests of the Po plain, Italy. We sampled 43 obligate saproxylic species. The main factor predicting saproxylic species richness was the amount of deadwood measured by both log diameter and volume. We found a threshold of 0.22 m diameter (confidence interval CI 0.18–0.37 m) and 32.04 m3/ha volume (CI 16.09–64.09 m3/ha) below which saproxylic beetle richness would be significantly reduced and a threshold of 35 m3/ha dead wood volume (CI 33–40 m3/ha) over which species richness increases by <5 %. The other deadwood and environmental components influenced saproxylic beetle richness to a lesser extent; some of them, however, should still be considered for proper management. Forest structure variables describing forest density such as large trees and basal areas have a negative effect on species richness. According to the results of our study, stumps and advanced decaying class are positively correlated, while small logs are negatively correlated to species richness. Thus, in extensively managed forests, the regular cutting of trees should be implemented to create artificial stumps, in order to assure a continuity of deadwood and, in the meantime, increase the number and width of openings in the forest. Moreover, prolonging rotation times can assure the presence of deadwood at intermediate/later stages of decay.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Fondazione CARIPLO and the Ticino Park (Parco Lombardo della Valle del Ticino) for funding our research. Francesco Sartori generously supported part of the research which was carried out inside the Riserva Naturale Integrale “Bosco Siro Negri” through a fund from the Italian Ministry for the Environment (Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare) and authorized us to carry out the research within the integral reserve. Marco Bardiani, Fabio Mazzocchi, Emma Minari, and Liana Fedrigoli, belonging to the Centro Nazionale Biodiversità Forestale “Bosco Fontana” di Verona, for their help on trap design and forest structure surveys. Marco Sutti for his help in collecting environmental variables. We thank all the experts who helped us with beetle determination: Maurizio Pavesi, Michele Zilioli, and Fabrizio Rigato form the Natural History Museum of Milan; Paolo Audisio; Giuseppe Carpaneto; Giuseppe Platia; Gianfranco Salvato; Fabio Penati; Paolo Cornacchia; Enzo Colonnelli; Claudio Canepari; Carlo Pesarini; Wolfgang Rucker. I also thank Nicklas Jansson for his suggestions on saproxilic beetle ecology at the beginning and during this research project, and Pietro Milanesi for the statistical analysis suggestions and for reviewing the final version of this manuscript.
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Della Rocca, F., Stefanelli, S., Pasquaretta, C. et al. Effect of deadwood management on saproxylic beetle richness in the floodplain forests of northern Italy: some measures for deadwood sustainable use. J Insect Conserv 18, 121–136 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9620-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9620-1