Abstract
Pitfall traps were used to sample beetles (Coleoptera) in plots with or without inputs of dead loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) wood at four locations (Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas) on the coastal plain of the southeastern United States. The plots were established in 1998 and sampling took place in 1998, 1999, and 2002 (only 1998 for North Carolina). Overall, beetles were more species rich, abundant and diverse in dead wood addition plots than in reference plots. While these differences were greatest in 1998 and lessened thereafter, they were not found to be significant in 1998 due largely to interactions between location and treatment. Specifically, the results from North Carolina were inconsistent with those from the other three locations. When these data were excluded from the analyses, the differences in overall beetle richness for 1998 became statistically significant. Beetle diversity was significantly higher in the dead wood plots in 1999 but by 2002 there were no differences between dead wood added and control plots. The positive influence of dead wood additions on the beetle community can be largely attributed to the saproxylic fauna (species dependent on dead wood), which, when analyzed separately, were significantly more species rich and diverse in dead wood plots in 1998 and 1999. Ground beetles (Carabidae) and other species, by contrast, were not significantly affected. These results suggest manipulations of dead wood in pine forests have variable effects on beetles according to life history characteristics.
Highlights
Logs and other woody debris on the forest floor are an essential habitat for a wide range of saproxylic arthropods [1,2,3], which are directly or indirectly dependent on dead and dying wood [4].These include phloem and wood feeders and their predators and species associated with wood-decaying fungi
Sections of wood were removed from the main trunk (i.e., “logs”, 30–35 cm dbh, 1 m long), limbs (2.5–10 cm mid-length diam, 0.5 m long), and twigs (0.5–1.5 cm diam, 0.25 m long) of loblolly pine trees felled for this purpose
With respect to treatment differences, 2998 (58%) individuals and 302 (80%) species were collected from the dead wood plots compared to 2174 (42%) individuals and 261 (69%) species from the reference plots
Summary
Logs and other woody debris on the forest floor are an essential habitat for a wide range of saproxylic arthropods [1,2,3], which are directly or indirectly dependent on dead and dying wood [4].These include phloem and wood feeders and their predators and species associated with wood-decaying fungi. Logs and other woody debris on the forest floor are an essential habitat for a wide range of saproxylic arthropods [1,2,3], which are directly or indirectly dependent on dead and dying wood [4]. A number of studies have shown litter-dwelling arthropods and other invertebrates to be more numerous immediately next to dead wood than short distances away from it [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. With demand for forest products continuing to rise (especially with a growing interest in biofuel production, see [21,22]), understanding the role of dead wood in maintaining biodiversity, tree productivity and long-term forest sustainability is becoming more important in forest management
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