Do wildlife habitat strips act as refuges for mature-forest carabid beetle assemblages? A case-study in Tasmanian wet eucalypt forest, Australia

Abstract

Carabid beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae) were sampled with pitfall traps in central Tasmania to assess the conservation utility of wildlife habitat strips (WHS) in native high-altitude wet eucalypt forest. Sampling followed a Before-After, Control-Impact design, with replicated samples being collected at one control site and two treatment sites, both before harvesting and then again seven to eight years after the harvest that established the WHS. Catches of carabid beetles decreased in harvested areas, but there were great increases in species richness and gross changes in assemblage composition — largely attributable to the colonisation of young-forest specialist species. Assemblages in the control site remained essentially unchanged, and were dominated by mature-forest specialist species. Assemblages in the WHS changed little compared to their pre-harvest condition, but assemblage structure was slightly affected. In this particular landscape, WHS appear to effectively maintain carabid assemblages typical of intact mature native forest, at least in the short-term. A broader and longer-term assessment of the ecological performance of WHS across Tasmania would be required to assess the long-term viability of WHS as a conservation strategy for carabids and other species requiring mature forest.