TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kriegel, Peter
A1  - Fritze, Michael‐Andreas
A1  - Thorn, Simon
T1  - Surface temperature and shrub cover drive ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in short‐rotation coppices
JF  - Agricultural and Forest Entomology
N2  - Increasing demand for biomass has led to an on‐going intensification of fuel wood plantations with possible negative effects on open land biodiversity. Hence, ecologists increasingly call for measures that reduce those negative effects on associated biodiversity. However, our knowledge about the efficiency of such measures remains scarce.
We investigated the effects of gap implementation in short rotation coppices (SRCs) on carabid diversity and assemblage composition over 3 years, with pitfall traps in gaps, edges and interiors. In parallel, we quantified soil surface temperature, shrub‐ and herb cover.
Edges had the highest number of species and abundances per trap, whereas rarefied species richness was significantly lower in short rotation coppice interiors than in other habitat types. Carabid community composition differed significantly between habitat types. The main environmental drivers were temperature for number of species and abundance and shrub cover for rarefied species richness.
We found significantly higher rarefied species richness in gaps compared with interiors. Hence, we argue that gap implementation benefits overall diversity in short rotation coppices. Furthermore, the differences in species community composition between habitat types through increased species turnover support carabid diversity in short rotation coppices. These positive effects were largely attributed to microclimate conditions. However, to maintain positive effects, continuous management of herb layer might be necessary.
KW  - Carabidae
KW  - fuel wood
KW  - short‐rotation coppice
KW  - shrub‐cover
KW  - temperature
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239873
VL  - 23
IS  - 4
SP  - 400
EP  - 410
ER  -