Effects of abiotic environmental factors and land use on the diversity of carrion-visiting silphid beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) : a large scale carrion study

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Erstveröffentlichung
2018-05-30
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Authors
Hoermann, Christian von
Jauch, Dennis
Kubotsch, Carolin
Reichel-Jung, Kirsten
Steiger, Sandra
Faculties
Fakultät für NaturwissenschaftenInstitutions
Institut für Evolutionsökologie und NaturschutzgenomikExternal cooperations
Nationalpark Bayerischer WaldPublished in
PLoS ONE ; 2018 (2018). - ISSN 1932-6203
Link to original publication
https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196839Peer review
ja
Document version
publishedVersion
Abstract
Anthropogenic land use causes global declines in biodiversity. Despite the knowledge that animal carrion is the most nutrient-rich form of dead organic matter, studies on landscape and local scales determining whether and the means by which land use intensity influences the diversity of the carrion-associated insect fauna are globally scarce. We investigated the effects of land use intensity and abiotic and biotic environmental factors on the abundance, species richness, and diversity of the important ecosystem-service-providing silphid beetle taxon (carrion beetles) in three regions of Germany. In 61 forest stands distributed over three geographically distinct regions in Central Europe, we trapped silphid beetles on exposed piglet cadavers during late summer. In all three regions, higher ambient temperatures and higher fine sand contents were associated with the abundance of the silphid beetle taxa. The carrion community silphid diversity was negatively affected by an increase in mean ambient temperature in all three regions. Although management intensity in forests did not affect the overall abundance of Silphidae, the abundance of Nicrophorus humator decreased significantly with higher forest management intensity across all three regions. Unmanaged and age-class forests showed a higher abundance of N. humator compared with extensively managed forest stands. These findings indicate that N. humator has potential as an indicator species for anthropogenic disturbances in forests. Overall, the direct responses of the silphid beetle community to diverse soil characteristics underline soil as an important factor determining the abundance and diversity of necrophagous carrion beetles in Central Europe. To protect these valuable ecosystem-service providers, forest-management-induced soil modifications need to be paid close attention.
Funding information
SPP 1374: Biodiversitäts-Exploratorien / DFG [AY 12/9-1, STE 1874/4-1]
Is supplemented by
https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.r5c64Subject Headings
Biodiversität [GND]Ökosystem [GND]
Bodennutzung [GND]
Aaskäfer [GND]
Biodiversity [LCSH]
Land use [LCSH]
Silphidae [LCSH]
Endangered ecosystems [LCSH]
Dewey Decimal Group
DDC 580 / Botanical sciencesDDC 590 / Animals (Zoology)
Metadata
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Hoermann, Christian von et al. (2020): Effects of abiotic environmental factors and land use on the diversity of carrion-visiting silphid beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) : a large scale carrion study. Open Access Repositorium der Universität Ulm. http://dx.doi.org/10.18725/OPARU-28567