Saproxylic beetle tolerance to habitat fragmentation induced by salvage logging in a boreal mixed‐cover burn

Abstract

Saproxylic insect assemblages associated with burned forests are generally abundant and species rich, consisting of a mix of pyrophilous and secondary, opportunistic species depending on time elapsed since disturbance. Life‐history traits associated with each group suggest that they may respond differentially to habitat fragmentation caused by salvage logging, with pyrophilous species having a much higher dispersal potential. In a 2‐year‐old burn highly fragmented by pre‐ and post‐fire logging, we sampled saproxylic beetles in coniferous and broadleaf burned residual stands along a gradient of spatial context including intensity of fragmentation and isolation from source habitat using Lindgren multiple‐funnels traps. Beetle assemblages differed in composition between coniferous and broadleaf burned stands, with secondary users dominating the latter. Pyrophilous species increased in abundance with distance from the edge and avoided unburned patches within the fire. Secondary users did not respond negatively to fragmentation or isolation of burned habitats, with one exception, the alleculid Isomira quadristriata (Couper), being overall diverse and abundant throughout the study area regardless of salvage logging prevalence. No deleterious effects of isolation were thus detected in the occurrence patterns of secondary users, even up to 8 km from the edge. Our results suggest that older burns, especially those having some broadleaf cover, are intensively used by non‐pyrophilous saproxylic species usually associated with dead wood in green forests and may contribute to maintain broader saproxylic assemblages than originally thought, especially when considering the importance of dead wood volume pulses associated with fire in boreal forests.

Effect of Habitat Burning on the Number of Singing Males of the Aquatic WarblerAcrocephalus paludicola

“…The use of fire to manage habitat for breeding Aquatic Warbler will be cheaper than large-scale cutting of the vegetation of peat bogs (Flade & Lachmann 2008, Lachman et al 2010 or the including beetles (Moretti et al 2010, Saint-Germain et al 2013, ants (Arnan et al 2006, Andersen et al 2007, Arnan et al 2010) and mammals (Soyumert et al 2010, Borchert 2012). However, the net effect of burning on birds varied between spe cies, generally benefitting bird species that prefer early successional vegetation stages (Pons et al 2003, Isacch et al 2004, Moga et al 2010 and habitats (Robel at al.…”

Diversidad postincendio de mariposas en un bosque de pino-encino del noreste de México

“…Estos incendios suelen consumir una cantidad significativa de biomasa, dejando extensas áreas sin vegetación y exponiendo el suelo a los elementos climáticos. Además de este impacto, alteran las características de los hábitats para la fauna (Gurrutxaga-San Vicente y Lozano-Valencia, 2010; Kelly y Brotons, 2017; Kelly et al, 2020;Potts et al, 2010;Pressler et al, 2019), afectando la disponibilidad de alimento (Mola y Williams, 2018;Saint-Germain et al, 2013) y limitando las oportunidades para el aprovechamiento sostenible de los recursos naturales proporcionados por la vegetación forestal.…”