Diversity of Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in a protected area of Central Spain: What are we protecting?

Abstract

Invertebrates are rarely considered when designing protected areas, and their biodiversity patterns in these areas are almost always unknown. We studied the spatial and temporal diversity of Ichneumonidae in five selected habitats of Cabañeros National Park: grazing pastureland, shrubland, and three types of woodland (Pyrenean oak, cork oak, and ash woodlands). We focused on 11 subfamilies, with species classified into trophic guilds. The highest diversity and richness of Ichneumonidae were found in ash woodland and pastureland, each with similar structural habitat complexity. Species turnover between habitats was about 50% and it contributed more to the total species richness than the fauna inherent to the habitats, though less to the total species diversity. Shrubland is transitional between pasture and woodland and Ichneumonidae assemblages in this habitat are rather different in their species composition from the others. Parasitoids of phytophages are well represented in all habitats; other guilds are more related to specific habitats, e.g. parasitoids of xylophages in shrubland. We suggest that shrub may be invading and isolating some of the woodlands. The mosaic landscape of the National Park, including open areas, is essential to ensure the conservation of parasitoids.

Explaining variations in the diversity of parasitoid assemblages in a biosphere reserve of Mexico: evidence from vegetation, land management and seasonality

“…These results largely agree with those obtained previously in the RBRL by Gonzalez-Moreno et al (2010) in a study on Cremastinae and Labeninae (Ichneumonidae), who reported the highest species richness in the dry forest, and by González-Moreno et al (2015) on Cryptinae (Ichneumonidae), who also found the highest values of abundance and diversity in the dry forest. However, our results appear to contradict those reported by Chay-Hernández et al (2006) and Mazon & Bordera (2014), who identified the highest diversity of ichneumonids in open areas surrounded by natural forest, which may be favoured because these areas allow them to pass from one habitat to another, acting as biological corridors (Haddad et al , 2003). However, in this case, a more open savannah is also a harsh environment with higher temperature and humidity fluctuations, leading to further reductions in insect biodiversity (Gauld, 1987; Shapiro & Pickering, 2000).…”

“…Our results coincide with those of Mazon & Bordera (2014), who found that phytophagous parasitoids are the most abundant guild in Spanish forests. It has been estimated that there are five to six species of parasitoid for every phytophagous insect (Askew & Shaw, 1986; Hawkins & Lawton, 1987).…”

“…The analysis was performed using Canoco 4.5 (Ter Braak & Smilauer, 2002). The trophic guilds followed the classification of Mazon & Bordera (2014), who recognized ten guilds of parasitoids belonging to Ichneumonidae family, and based on the classification criteria from Garbarczyk & Sawoniewicz (1984), to define the trophic level membership of their hosts and food specialization: Coc: parasitoids of cocoons and pupae.cPh: parasitoids of concealed phytophagous larvae feeding inside above-ground plant parts, such as leaf rollers, leaf folders, gall formers and leaf miners.gPh: parasitoids of exposed phytophagous larvae feeding on the external parts of plants, such as leaves, stems, flowers and buds.Mel: parasitoids of melitophagous larvae of bees that feed on stores of honeydew, nectar and pollen and wasp larvae living in nests.Myc: parasitoids of larvae living in the fruiting bodies of mushrooms and bracket fungi.Poly: polyphagous parasitoids whose host range include two or more arthropod orders with different trophic habits.Sap: parasitoids of saprophagous larvae.Unkn: unknown parasitoids whose hosts remain unknown.Xyl: parasitoids of xylophagous larvae, excluding those feeding in dead but not decomposing wood.Zoo: parasitoids of zoophagous larvae and spiders.…”

Hymenoptera functional groups’ shifts in disturbance gradients at Andean forests in Southern Ecuador

“…Regarding overall functional diversity, it was significantly higher in the low conservation areas of two reserves. Although it can not be seen as a consistent pattern, open areas may serve as corridors for insects (Mazón and Bordera 2014;Gutiérrez-Chacón et al 2020) connecting well-conserved forests, and therefore these more disturbed areas would have more diverse assemblages. Also, by being embedded in a conserved matrix, these areas may be acting as ecotones, which may harbor a higher diversity of Hymenoptera than the forests, as seen for ants (Coelho and Ribeiro 2006), bees (Polatto and Alves 2020; Theodorou et al 2020) and parasitoids (Rossetti et al 2013).…”

Species richness, abundance and diversity of ichneumonid wasps in Japanese beech forests impacted by sika deer and sawfly herbivory

“…The structure of hymenopteran communities is known to differ from habitat to habitat (Jäkel & Roth 2004;Fraser et al 2007;Mazón & Bordera 2014;Kendall & Ward 2016). In addition, hymenopteran parasitoid species generally occur at low densities and are more vulnerable to environmental degradation than insect species of lower trophic levels (LaSalle & Gauld 1991;LaSalle 1993;Shaw & Hochberg 2001;Tscharntke et al 2002;Shaw 2006;Fraser et al 2008).…”