The Auchenorrhyncha fauna of peat bogs in the Austrian part of the Bohemian Forest (Insecta, Hemiptera)

Lydia Schlosser,Werner Holzinger

doi:10.3897/zookeys.319.4324

Abstract

The first overview on the Auchenorrhyncha fauna of peat bogs of the Austrian Bohemian Forest is presented. Seven oligotrophic peat bog sites were studied in 2011 by suction sampler (“G-Vac”) and 93 Auchenorrhyncha species (with 7465 adult specimens) were recorded. Eleven species (about 18 % of the individuals) are tyrphobiontic or tyrphophilous. The relative species abundance plot is not very steep; the six most abundant species represent 50 % of the individuals. The most common species is Conomelus anceps (17 % of the individuals). Compared to the whole Austrian Auchenorrhyncha fauna, the fauna of peat bogs comprises distinctly more univoltine species and more species hibernating in nymphal stage. Densities of adult Auchenorrhyncha in peat bogs are low in spring (about 10–60 individuals per m²) and high in July, with up to 180 (±50) individuals per m². Disturbed peat bogs have higher species numbers and higher Auchenorrhyncha densities in total, but lower numbers and densities in peat bog specialists.

Highlights

Peat bogs are characterized by very wet, acidic and oligotrophic conditions, and their soil is of organic origin
We present the first overview on the peat bog fauna of this area and give some data on the Auchenorrhyncha communities of Central European peat bogs
The study sites are located in the very north of Upper Austria, close to the German and Czech border

Summary

Introduction

Peat bogs are characterized by very wet, acidic and oligotrophic conditions, and their soil is of organic origin. They are among the most threatened habitats in Central Europe, due to dewatering, peat mineralization, land reclamation, afforestation, nutrient contamination and recently by climate change. Over 90 % of all peat bogs in Austria were devastated or completely destroyed (Niedermair et al 2010). With a few exceptions (Leising 1977, Holzinger 1995, 2000, Holzinger and Novotny 1998) the Auchenorrhyncha fauna of Austrian peat bogs is poorly studied, and the hopper fauna of the granite and gneiss highlands of the Austrian Bohemian Forest is completely unknown. We present the first overview on the peat bog fauna of this area and give some data on the Auchenorrhyncha communities of Central European peat bogs (see Schlosser 2012, Schlosser and Holzinger 2012)

Methods and materials

Results and discussion

70 Balclutha calamagrostis