Establishing new grasslands on crop fields: short‐term development of plant and arthropod communities

Hussain, Raja Imran; Brandl, Manuela; Maas, Bea; Krautzer, B.; Frank, Thomas; Moser, Dietmar

doi:10.1111/rec.13641

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Insects that reach a restoration site will only establish if their requirements in habitat quality are fulfilled (cf. Helbing et al, 2021;Hussain et al, 2022). As described above, environmental conditions 3 to 5 years after restoration hardly differed between restored and target grasslands.…”

Section: Parametermentioning

confidence: 74%

Rapid response of vascular plants and insects to restoration of montane grasslands

Helbing

Fartmann

Morkel³

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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IntroductionIndustrialization has ushered in massive changes in agriculture. Particularly in low mountain ranges, large-scale afforestation with Norway spruce on traditionally managed, semi-natural grasslands has caused a severe decline in biodiversity. Tree removal, hay transfer and resumption of grazing or mowing are typical measures to re-create species-rich grasslands. The aim of this study was to use vascular plants and three insect taxa (leafhoppers, true bugs, and grasshoppers) as bioindicators to evaluate the success of montane grassland restoration on former spruce forests in Central Europe. In addition, we intended to identify the drivers of species richness within the studied grasslands in order to derive suitable recommendations for habitat management.MethodsWe analyzed two different treatments: (i) grazed restoration sites where trees had been cut and species-rich green hay had been applied (N = 9) and (ii) target sites with a long continuity of low-intensity grazing (N = 9).Results and DiscussionOur study revealed that all studied taxa responded rapidly to the restoration measures. After a development period of 3 to 5 years, we found no differences in species richness and diversity of leafhoppers, true bugs and grasshoppers (all, target and threatened species). In addition, non-metric multidimensional scaling showed a large overlap in species composition between restoration and target grasslands. Among target and threatened species, vascular plants displayed the same pattern as insects and reached similar values when comparing the two treatments. However, total species richness and diversity of vascular plants were still higher on the target sites and species composition overlapped only partially. Grazing intensity was the predictor with the highest explanatory power in multivariable (Generalized) Linear Mixed-effects Models, being negatively related to species richness of leafhoppers and true bugs. We conclude that the measures implemented were effective in re-establishing target communities of different taxa. The transfer of seed-containing hay enabled or accelerated the development of the vegetation. Insects, on the other hand, were able to recolonize the restored grasslands on their own, given that these sites were embedded in a network of species-rich grasslands. With regard to insects (e.g., leafhoppers and true bugs), it should be ensured that grazing is applied at low intensity.

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Section: Parametermentioning

confidence: 74%

Rapid response of vascular plants and insects to restoration of montane grasslands

Helbing

Fartmann

Morkel³

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…Habitat connectivity: Syrphids often require suitable habitats in close proximity to each other to support their abundance [60,61]. If the grassland management practices create or maintain sufficient linear connectivity between different patches of suitable habitat, then it could have limited the movement and dispersal of syrphid males and females, ultimately equalizing their abundance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Dynamics of Sex-Specific Responses Driven by Grassland Management: Using Syrphids as a Model Insect Group

Hussain,

Ablinger,

Starz

et al. 2024

Land

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Grassland ecosystems, managed by various grassland managements strategies, are the world’s most important land use. However, insect’s sex-specific responses within the context of grassland management have never been considered before. Therefore, our aim was to expand the understanding to the dynamics of grassland managements that drive sex-specific responses by using syrphids as a model insect group. We hypothesize that (1) male and female syrphids exhibit differential habitat preferences in grassland managements, (2) abundance and activity of male and female syrphid levels are influenced by vegetation structure in grassland habitats. Extensive and intensive grassland exhibited significantly different male and female syrphid abundance compared to abandoned grassland. Surprisingly, grassland management had a significant impact on male syrphids richness only, not on female. Flower cover significantly increased male and female syrphid abundance and richness. However, plant height significantly increased female syrphid abundance and richness only. Interestingly, abandoned grassland supports a higher amount of unique female syrphids than male syrphids. The dynamics of grassland management are not unidirectional, but they are multifaceted and multidirectional. Considering the importance of sex-specific responses by insects can provide a more comprehensive understanding of dynamics of grassland managements.

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“…To assess differences in species assemblage, we calculated PERMANOVA (Bray-Curtis dissimilarities, 999 permutations) using function adonis from R package vegan (as performed in Hussain et al 2022). The betadisper function was used to check the initial data for equal multivariant dispersion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of public gardens on the insect diversity of green roofs

Hussain

Frank

Kratschmer

2022

Preprint

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Rapid urbanization is among the factors, causing decrease in insect diversity. However, by offering suitable habitat, green roofs could lessen such adverse effects of urbanization. Certain factors, like a nearby public garden could be useful predictor variables to analyze at what extent green roofs can support insect communities. The aim of the study was to measure the insect diversity on intensive green roofs located close to public gardens, and more isolated green roofs within an urban setting. Insect species richness, abundance and assemblages were different on the green roofs close to public gardens compared to isolated green roofs. We can conclude that green roofs near a public garden will host more species, especially pollinators, consequently lessens urbanization's negative effect. Establishing a green roof at the right location would probably enhance biodiversity conservation in an urban setting. To properly understand how landscape factors impact insect communities on green roofs, future studies on green roofs should take public gardens into consideration.

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Establishing new grasslands on crop fields: short‐term development of plant and arthropod communities

Cited by 10 publications

References 32 publications

Rapid response of vascular plants and insects to restoration of montane grasslands

Rapid response of vascular plants and insects to restoration of montane grasslands

Understanding the Dynamics of Sex-Specific Responses Driven by Grassland Management: Using Syrphids as a Model Insect Group

Effectiveness of public gardens on the insect diversity of green roofs

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