| Burning of logged sites to protect beetles in managed boreal forests. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 18173480 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
Natural disturbance-based management and conservation strategies are needed to protect forest biodiversity. Boreal forests of northern Europe are typically clearcut and otherwise intensively managed for timber production. As a result, natural disturbances such as forest fires have became rare and the volume of dead wood has decreased. These changes have had a profound negative effect on species that depend on dead wood (saproxylic). Therefore, it is important to determine whether modifications of forest management methods can enhance the survival of these species. In our study area in southern Finland, we determined whether burning of logged sites and leaving trees (i.e., retention trees) on the sites benefited saproxylic, rare, and red-listed beetle species and how long the burned sites remained suitable habitat for these species. We surveyed the beetle fauna at 40 sites logged 1-16 years previously, 20 of which were burned after logging. The abundance and species richness of saproxylic beetles were positively affected by burning, but the effect depended on the retention of trees in the otherwise clearcut stands. The difference between burned and unburned sites increased with the number of retention trees, and the effect of burning was not significant when there were fewer than approximately 15 retention trees/ha. Most important, the species groups that were unlikely to persist in ordinarily managed forests (rare saproxylic and red-listed beetles), benefited strongly from burning and tree retention. The species richness of saproxylic beetles decreased with time since logging at both burned and at unburned sites. We conclude that burning of logged sites and leaving an adequate number of retention trees may be useful in the conservation of disturbance-adapted species and can be used to improve the environmental quality of the matrix surrounding protected areas. Unfortunately, sites remained high-quality habitat for only a short time; thus, a continuum of burned areas must be ensured. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Tero Toivanen; Janne S Kotiaho |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology Volume: 21 ISSN: 1523-1739 ISO Abbreviation: Conserv. Biol. Publication Date: 2007 Dec |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2008-01-04 Completed Date: 2008-01-24 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 9882301 Medline TA: Conserv Biol Country: United States |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 1562-72 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, 40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland. tertoiv@cc.jyu.fi |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Animals Arctic Regions Beetles / physiology* Conservation of Natural Resources / methods* Ecosystem* Fires Forestry / methods* Population Dynamics Trees* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Climatic and biotic stochasticity: disparate causes of convergent demographies in rare, sympatric pl...
Next Document: The guppy as a conservation model: implications of parasitism and inbreeding for reintroduction succ...