Response of Saproxylic Insect Communities to Forestry: Implications for Conservation.

• Main Author: Fredrik Stenbacka
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fennoscandia
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.630.9174; http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/2117/1/Stenbacka_F_090922.pdf

In boreal Fennoscandia clear-cutting practices and fire suppression have drastically reduced dead wood amount and diversity, deteriorating the sapoxylic fauna (species associated with dead wood). More effective conservation measures are urgently needed, which requires more empirical data on many saproxylics in managed forest landscapes. In this thesis I have studied both the immediate and more long-term effects of clear-cutting on saproxylic insect communities (beetles, parasitic wasps and flat bugs), by comparing species richness, abundance and assemblage composition in the whole successional range of existing spruce dominated forests. My thesis also provides data on substrate requirements of red-listed beetles, response of flat bugs to forest fires, and complementarity of sampling methods for assessing data on rare and threatened species. Old-growth forests supported the most intact communities and the highest densities of saproxylic insects and are probably very important as source habitats, especially for red-listed species. Mature managed forests were very similar in