Insect communities of Phragmites habitats used for sewage purification: Effects of age and area of habitats on species richness and herbivore-parasitoid interactions

Abstract

In 1994, 28 sewage purification plants based on common reed Phragmites australis were analyzed, to study fragmentation effects on diversity and on food web structure of insect communities. Purification plants differed in age (2 to 11 years) and area (10 to 2,500 m 2). Both age and area were significantly correlated with species richness of herbivores. Populations of the two most abundant herbivores, the gall makers Lipara pullitarsis (Diptera, Chloropidae) and Giraudiella inclusa (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae), increased significantly with age and size of the Phragmites habitats, i.e. the purification plants. Incidence curves showed that only habitats older than 6 years and larger than 100 m 2 have a 50% probability of finding these two most abundant gall makers, and can correspondingly be considered to contribute to insect species conservation. Natural enemies were even more susceptible to habitat fragmentation than their phytophagous hosts or prey, thereby hampering possible biocontrol. Percent parasitism of both the Lipara and Giraudiella gall makers significantly increased with habitat age.