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Influence of snag characteristics on saproxylic beetle assemblages in a south Swedish beech forest

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Abstract

Effects of snag characteristics on saproxylic beetles were studied in an area of managed beech forest in southern Sweden. A snag survey was combined with a beetle survey using 30 small window traps directly attached to beech snags. The total number of species was lower in the snags which were most decayed than in the three younger decay classes, while the number of red-listed species remained the same regardless of the stage of decay. The number of fresh wood species declined and the number of rot hole species increased with increasing snag decay. The diversity of fungicolous and decayed wood species peaked at the intermediate stage of decay in the snags. CCA ordination confirmed that the stage of decay in the snags was most important for species composition, followed by sun exposure. There were no general differences in species density and composition between managed and unmanaged stands. Our study suggests that most species are able to find suitable habitat within a radius of a few kilometres and that the total amount of habitat in an unfragmented forest area is more important for species diversity than the spatial distribution of this habitat. Our data also shows that species diversity increases with habitat diversity. Snags formed from giant beech trees seem to be particularly important for rare species living in rot holes. We conclude that for a high species diversity there is a requirement for snags in different stages of decay, size and degree of sun exposure.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Rickard Andersson for the determination of critical beetle species, Georg Andersson and Karin Bengtsson for help with the field and lab work and Emma Holmström for help with GIS. We are grateful to Mikael Lang and Staffan Pettersson for information and access to Torup forest. Eric Agestam and Jogeir Stokland provided data files. Constructive feedback from two reviewers helped to improve the paper. The language was revised by Vikki Bengtsson. The project was financed by the research programme Sustainable Management of Broadleaved Forest at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P. O. Box 49, 230 53, Alnarp, Sweden

    Jörg Brunet

  2. Swedish Forest Agency, P. O. Box 63, 281 21, Hässleholm, Sweden

    Gunnar Isacsson

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  1. Jörg Brunet
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  2. Gunnar Isacsson
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Correspondence to Jörg Brunet.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 6 List of saproxylic beetles collected from 30 window traps in Torup forest during 2004
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Brunet, J., Isacsson, G. Influence of snag characteristics on saproxylic beetle assemblages in a south Swedish beech forest. J Insect Conserv 13, 515–528 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9200-3

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