The role of dead Korean fir as the snag‐dwelling arthropods' habitat in forest ecosystem

Abstract

This snag‐dwelling arthropod community study was conducted for the ecological evaluation of dead woods at Korean fir stand in Mt. Woonak in Pocheon‐si, Gyeonggi‐do, from April 2010 to August 2011. We put a windows trap and an emergence trap on the trunk of each snag, and we selected the six snags during the study periods. We collected 3930 individuals (5 class, 21order, 52 families) but we didn't include the number of unidentified larva. We separated those individuals into the three functional groups and we found out the proportion and number of each functional group from the total individuals: herbivores (27.6%, 1083) predators (10.9%, 430), detritivores (61.4%, 2413), etc (0.1%, 4). We found out the proportion and number of each taxon group for herbivores, Armadillidae (0.15%, 6), Acarina (2.57%, 101), Psocoptera (0.25%, 10), Hemiptera (0.46%, 18), Mecoptera (0.05%, 2), Hymenoptera (not ant) (5.14%, 202), Aphididae (3.82%, 150), Cicadellidae (0.4%, 16), Curculionidae (3.61%, 142), Chrysomelidae (0.23%, 9), Elateridae (3.36%, 132), Erotylidae (3.16%, 124), Nitidulidae (2.6%, 102), Pyrochoroidae (0.08%, 3), Scarabaeidae (0.31%, 12), and Cetoniidae (0.13%, 5). Predators were consisted of the following taxa groups: Araneae (2.9%, 114), Chilopoda (0.31%, 12), Formicidae (4.25%, 167), Carabidae (0.08%, 3), Staphylinidae (1.09%, 43), Cleridae (0.05%, 2), Pselaphidae (0.1%, 4), Colydiidae (0.38%, 15), Harpalidae (0.1%, 4), Histeridae (0.36%, 14), and Dermestidae (0.8%, 31). Detritivores were consisted of the following taxa groups: Millipedes (0.92%, 36), Archaeognatha(1.6%, 63), Diptera (7.81%, 307), Collembola (35.47%, 1394), Protura (0.03%, 1), Dermaptera (0.1%, 4), Tettigoniidae (0.08%, 4), Raphiidophoridae (0.03%, 1), Ipidae (14.12%, 555), Silphidae (0.15%, 6), Cuculidae (0.15%, 6), Cerambycidae (0.38%, 15), Oedeeridae (0.03%, 1), Lucamnidae (0.03%, 1), Stenotrachelidae (0.05%, 2), Buprestidae (0.13%, 5), Tenebrionidae (0.23%, 9), and Mordellidae (0.1%, 4), etc. Conclusively, the snag plays an important roll as the diverse arthropods' habitats in the Korean fir forest ecosystem.