Shift of rove beetle assemblages in reforestations: Does nativity matter?

Abstract

Creating plantations after clear-cutting of native forests is a serious risk for biodiversity. Rove beetles were collected by litter sifting in non-native plantations (black locust, Scots pine, red oak), in native oak plantation and mature oak forest as control. We hypothesised that diversity and composition of the rove beetles in the mature forest would be different from those in the plantations. We expected that reforestation with native species would have less harmful effects on rove beetles than reforestation with non-native species. In accordance with our hypotheses the overall number of rove beetle individuals and species, as well as the diversity of hygrophilous and decaying material dependent rove beetles were significantly lower in the plantations than in the mature oak forest. However, the overall species richness and the diversity of hygrophilous and decaying material dependent rove beetles were significantly higher in the native plantation compared to the non-native ones. There was no significant correlation between the diversity of these rove beetles and the soil moisture and decaying woody materials as limiting resources; thus, our study did not support the resource quantity hypothesis. The cover of herbs and shrubs, the soil temperature and soil pH were the most important factors controlling the diversity of rove beetles. Our results suggest that reforestation with native tree species provides more suitable habitat for rove beetles than non-native ones. However, it seems that rove beetle assemblages did not recover even after 40 years of reforestation with native tree species due to their specific ecological demands.