Emulating natural disturbances in boreal Norway spruce forests: Effects on ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

The disturbance regime of boreal forests has been substantially altered by human influence in northern Europe. In this context, emulations of natural disturbance have become increasingly common as management tools to minimize negative effects of forestry on biodiversity. In a large-scale habitat-restoration experiment conducted in Norway spruce stands in southern Finland, we tested the effects of controlled burning, partial harvesting, and increasing the amount of downed wood on ground beetles (carabids). We also evaluated the effects of moisture gradients within harvested sites. We collected beetles seven years after the treatments. The moisture gradient was the strongest determinant of ca…

Cross-taxon congruence and relationships to stand characteristics of vascular plants, bryophytes, polyporous fungi and beetles in mature managed boreal forests

Abstract Multi-taxon analyses of ecological assemblages are needed when the effects of forestry on biodiversity are examined. Management usually simplifies the structure of forests, which results in quantitative and qualitative declines in many microhabitats and species associated with them. In Fennoscandia, most forests are managed for industrial use of wood, but relatively little is known about the relationships between structural components and biodiversity in managed forests. Abundance, composition or species number of different species groups reacting similarly to variation in their environment would be a useful tool e.g. in estimating responses of species that are more difficult to sa…

Effects of undergrowth removal and edge proximity on ground beetles and vascular plants in urban boreal forests

Urban forests are regularly managed for human safety and esthetic reasons, but they are crucial habitat for many species. Removals of undergrowth occur commonly in these forests, yet the ecological consequences of these operations are poorly understood. We sampled ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) and vascular plants along 20-m edge gradients in Finnish urban forests, in five stands treated 0.5–2.5 years earlier with undergrowth removal and in five untreated stands. We hypothesized that undergrowth removal and edge proximity would benefit opportunistic and open-habitat species, whereas shady-habitat species would be affected negatively. (1) Regarding carabids, diversity and evenness in…

Effects of undergrowth removal and edge proximity on ground beetles and vascular plants in urban boreal forests

Biologian kenttäopetus yliopistoissa: yhteistyöllä uuteen nousuun

Kenttäkurssit ovat keskeinen osa biologian ja lähitieteiden opetusta yliopistoissa. Luonnossa tapahtuva opetus kehittää sekä ymmärrystä tieteenalan teoreettisista perusteista että ammatillisia käytännön taitoja. Kenttäkursseilla omat havainnot muodostuvat oppimisen perustaksi muiden oppimistapojen rinnalla. Vaikka kenttäopetuksen tarpeellisuudesta ollaan yksimielisiä, kenttäkursseja uhkaavat yliopistojen rahoituksen väheneminen ja tutkimusasemaverkoston karsiminen. Tässä kirjoituksessa pohdimme, kuinka uhkista huolimatta kenttäopetuksen määrää, laatua ja kustannustehokkuutta voidaan lisätä yliopistojen ja niiden tutkimusasemien välisellä yhteistyöllä. nonPeerReviewed

Responses of boreal carabid beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae) to clear-cutting and top-soil preparation

Today, forestry is the most important disturbance force in Fennoscandian boreal forests, having remarkably altered fauna and flora in this biome. However, since the late 1900s, forest-management practices have been modified to better consider biodiversity while harvesting timber. For example, green-tree retention, gap felling, and lighter top-soil preparation methods (harrowing) have been introduced, but little is known about the ecological effects of these changes. We sampled carabid beetles in seven clear-cut stands that were subsequently harrowed. We studied the effects of (1) clear-cut size by comparing carabid catches of small gaps (ca. 0.16 ha) with those of larger clear-cuts (ca. 2 h…

The arthropod community of boreal Norway spruce forests responds variably to stump harvesting

Forest fuel harvesting increases the need to collect not just logging residues but also tree stumps from harvested stands. This biomass removal has raised concern over forest biodiversity. Here, the effects of stump harvesting on spiders, ants, harvestmen, ground beetles and epiedaphic springtails occupying boreal Norway spruce (Picea abies) forest floor were studied two and five years after harvesting by comparing pitfall trap samples from clear-cut sites with and without subsequent stump harvesting and from unharvested mature forests in central Finland. At harvested sites, traps were placed both on intact and exposed mineral soil surface. Open-habitat and generalist ground beetles benefit…

Data from: Effects of undergrowth removal and edge proximity on ground beetles and vascular plants in urban boreal forests

Urban forests are regularly managed for human safety and aesthetic reasons, but they are crucial habitat for many species. Removals of undergrowth occur commonly in these forests, yet the ecological consequences of these operations are poorly understood. We sampled ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) and vascular plants along 20-m edge gradients in Finnish urban forests, in five stands treated 0.5−2.5 years earlier with undergrowth removal and in five untreated stands. We hypothesized that undergrowth removal and edge proximity would benefit opportunistic and open-habitat species, whereas shady-habitat species would be affected negatively. (1) Regarding carabids, diversity and evenness i…

Seven years of follow-up of continuous-cover forestry: responses of saproxylic beetles

Fennoscandian forest management has since 1950s been characterized by forest regeneration through clear cutting, with subsequent top-soil preparation, seeding or planting with conifers, and removals of legacy elements important for biodiversity, such as dead wood. According to national Red Lists, this structural simplification in most Fennoscandian forests has made hundreds of species threatened. One possible way to support these species is continuous-cover forestry, where at least half of a stand is covered by mature or near-mature trees throughout the logging rotation. Such forestry might secure both economic benefits and support specialized forest species, but empirical evidence is large…