Factors influencing the diversity of cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera:Chrysididae) in the post‐agriculture area of theKampinosNationalPark,Poland

Abstract

In the Kampinos National Park (Poland), which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, 47 caught per unit effort samples of Chrysididae were collected in 2000–2006. The aim of the study was to identify the factors promoting the diversity of this rarely studied group of parasitic wasps. A total of 722 specimens belonging to 37 species were recorded, including 18 threatened species and six others recently described as new to the Polish fauna. No chrysidids were recorded in forests, instead they were most abundant on fallow land (i.e. in open habitats), of which those located on dry soils were preferred over humid ones, just as by their endogeic (nesting in the ground) hosts. Many chrysidids that are parasites of hypergeic (nesting above the ground) species were significantly associated with old abandoned wooden buildings, where their hosts use holes in wood for nesting. In addition to the characteristics of the habitat sampled, its position in the land mosaic also determined the diversity of chrysidids. Their lowest abundance and species diversity were recorded in samples from different types of habitat, all located in a uniform environment (i.e. with few other habitats nearby), which limited the diversity of resources available within the flight ranges of chrysidids and their hosts. Our study, thus consistent with the concept that habitat heterogeneity enhances faunal diversity, brings important conclusions for the management of park landscapes: afforestation of open areas (both intentional and resulting from natural succession of plant communities) and removal of old abandoned wooden buildings may limit the land mosaicity and thus faunal diversity.

Local habitat conditions shaping the assemblages of vespid wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in a post-agricultural landscape of the Kampinos National Park in Poland

“…It is worth mentioning that there are a few studies employing SOMs on hymenopterans like ants 47,48 , polistinae wasps 49 or spider and cuckoo wasps 12,13 . However, the present study is the first to use Kohonen ANNs to examine the patterns in vespid assemblages.…”

Deceptive ecological status of urban streams and rivers—evidence from diatom indices

“…The number of such species tends to be higher in habitats displaying high quality for a given group of organisms (Szczepko et al. , Kruk et al. ).…”

“…4, 5B, 6). The number of such species tends to be higher in habitats displaying high quality for a given group of organisms (Szczepko et al 2013. The indicator species in a given subcluster should not be treated as dominant.…”

Disturbed fish fauna zonation as an indicator of large-scale human impact: A case study (2011-2012) of the large, lowland Warta River, Poland

“…These differences are also apparent in the indicator species analysis, as much fewer species were significantly associated with S3 compared with S2 and S4 (Table 3). The number of species significantly associated with the given group of samples of organisms (i.e., exhibiting the significantly highest values of the IndVal index) is considered a good measure of the quality of the environment from which these samples come from (Adamczyk, Kruk, Penczak, & Minter, 2012;Penczak et al, 2012Penczak et al, , 2014Szczepko, Kruk, & Bartos, 2012;Szczepko, Kruk, Bartos, & Wiśniowski, 2013). The worse state of the fish fauna in section S3 in comparison with S2 and S4 is a manifestation of the disturbed natural downstream gradient (zonation) of fish assemblages along the river and an indicator of human pressure (compare with Aarts & Nienhuis, 2003;Ibarra et al, 2005;Lasne, Bergerot, Lek, & Laffaille, 2007).…”