Abstract
Forest edges are essential to the maintenance of biodiversity at the landscape level. according to the edge effect hypothesis, diversity is higher in an edge than in adjacent areas. We tested the edge effect hypothesis for carabids and staphylinids in an oak forest- forest edge-grassland complex in the Hajdusag Landscape Protection area (Hungary). The habitat types were as follows: (1) a closed oak forest with shrubs and herbaceous plants, (2) a forest edge with extensive ground vegetation and shrub cover and (3) grassland with dense herbaceous vegetation. We collected data from 60 pitfall traps (2 spatial replicates × 3 habitats × 10 traps). The gLM results showed that the species richness of carabids was higher at the edge of the forest than in the grassland and forest interior; the number of carabid individuals was highest in the grassland. The number of staphylinids and their species richness were significantly lower in the grassland than in the forest edge and interior. The results of principal coordinates analysis showed that the assemblages of both taxa in the forest edge and interior were separated from the assemblage in the grassland area. There were significant characteristic species for the edge habitat, as revealed by the IndVal (indicator species analysis) method. our findings suggest that forest edges play a vital role in the maintenance of the diversity of carabid and staphylinid assemblages.
Highlights
Habitat fragmentation and alteration are the major drivers of biodiversity loss in natural habitats (Magura, 2002; Fahrig, 2003; Rösch et al, 2013)
These edge-associated species are adapted to forest edges with a distinct structure and/or microclimate and are not present in adjacent habitats, which thereby increases the biodiversity within forest edges (Odum, 1971; Magura et al, 2001)
We studied the distribution of carabid and staphylinid assemblages in a grassland habitat, forest edge and forest interior and identified the characteristic species of each habitat type using indicator value (IndVal) method (Niemelä & Spence, 1994; Dufrêne & Legendre, 1997; Magura et al, 2000; Elek et al, 2001)
Summary
Habitat fragmentation and alteration are the major drivers of biodiversity loss in natural habitats (Magura, 2002; Fahrig, 2003; Rösch et al, 2013). The original forest edges have disappeared due to recent plantations or abandonment of farmland (Saunders et al, 1991) These alterations change the abiotic and biotic conditions of the natural habitats, which can influence the composition of assemblages of ground-dwelling invertebrates (Magura et al, 2001). The edge may act as an ecological trap for some insects (Ries & Fagan, 2003) or a shelter, leading to species that are characteristic to the forest edges, i.e., edge-associated species (Molnár et al, 2001; Horváth et al, 2002; Magura, 2002) These edge-associated species are adapted to forest edges with a distinct structure and/or microclimate and are not present in adjacent habitats, which thereby increases the biodiversity within forest edges (Odum, 1971; Magura et al, 2001)
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