Relevance of exotic pine plantations as a surrogate habitat for ground beetles (Carabidae) where native forest is rare

Abstract

Plantation forests are of increasing importance worldwide for wood and Wbre production, and in some areas they are the only forest cover. Here we investigate the potential role of exotic plantations in supporting native forest-dwelling carabid beetles in regions that have experienced extensive deforestation. On the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand, more than 99% of the previous native forest cover has been lost, and today exotic pine (Pinus radiata) plantations are the only forest habitat of substantial area. Carabids were caught with pitfall traps in native kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) forest remnants and in a neighbouring pine plantation, grassland and gorse (Ulex europaeus) shrubland. A total of 2,700 individuals were caught, with signiWcantly greater abundance in traps in young pine, grassland and gorse habitats than in kanuka and older pine. RareWed species richness was greatest in kanuka, a habitat that supported two forest specialist species not present in other habitat types. A critically endangered species was found only in the exotic plantation forest, which also acts as a surrogate habitat for most carabids associated with kanuka forest. The few remaining native forest patches are of critical importance to conservation on the Canterbury Plains, but in the absence of larger native forest areas plantation forests are more valuable for carabid conservation than the exotic grassland that dominates the region.

Seasonality overrides differences in butterfly species composition between natural and anthropogenic forest habitats

“…In particular, the suitability of human made habitats as secondary habitats should be interpreted with caution if seasonality is not taken into account (cf. Berndt et al ., ; Paquette & Messier, ; Valtonen et al ., ).…”

“…This example contradicts the viewpoint that exotic plantations might act as surrogate habitat for endangered forest species, when indigenous forests become rare (cf. Berndt, Brockerhoff & Jactel, ; Calviño‐Cancela, ).…”

The impacts of bioenergy pine plantation management practices on bee communities

“…Appropriately managed plantations can over time develop diverse communities resembling those of native forests (Gallé, Torma, & Maák, 2016;Pawson, Brockerhoff, & Didham, 2009;Pawson, Brockerhoff, Meenken, & Didham, 2008) and can even include rare or endangered taxa (Berndt, Brockerhoff, & Jactel, 2008;Humphrey, Newton, Peace, & Holden, 2000). Longer harvest rotations, while less economically beneficial for timber production in many contexts, often benefit conservation objectives (Brockerhoff, Jactel, Parrotta, Quine, & Sayer, 2008;Humphrey, 2005).…”

Can ground-based assessments of forest biodiversity reflect the biological condition of canopy assemblages?

“…Arthropod diversity is frequently used to assess biological condition in applied forest research (Spence et al 1996, Berndt et al 2008 and more fundamental aspects of ecology, including fragmentation and disturbance (Vasconcelos et al 2006, Pedley andDolman 2014). New DNA barcoding techniques (Yang et al 2014), which negate the often laborious taxonomy associated with arthropod sampling, are enabling quicker processing times that may proliferate the use of arthropod monitoring (Ji et al 2013).…”

“…However, extensive arthropod monitoring of closed-canopy forests has been conducted with ground-based methods (e.g. Docherty and Leather 1997, Oxbrough et al 2005, Berndt et al 2008. Many studies of this nature make comparisons between the arthropod biodiversity of different forest types with inherently different ground, understory and canopy structures (Fuller et al 2008, Barsoum et al 2014.…”