New Insights into the Consequences of Post-Windthrow Salvage Logging Revealed by Functional Structure of Saproxylic Beetles Assemblages

摘要: Windstorms, bark beetle outbreaks and fires are important natural disturbances in coniferous forests worldwide. Wind-thrown trees promote biodiversity restoration within production forests, but also cause large economic losses due to infestation accelerated fungal decomposition. Such damaged often removed by salvage logging, which leads decreased thus increasingly evokes discussions between economists ecologists about appropriate strategies. To reveal the reasons behind species loss after we used a functional approach based on four habitat-related ecological traits focused saproxylic beetles. We predicted that logging would decrease diversity (measured as effect sizes of mean pairwise distances using null models) well values body size, wood diameter niche canopy cover niche, increase decay stage niche. As expected, caused richness, led an altering composition from habitat-filtered assemblages toward random assemblages. Even though removes tree trunks, most negative effects were found for small heliophilous specialized diameter. Our results suggested disrupts assembly process windthrown impacts more microclimate alteration dead-wood objects than resource amount. These insights underline power approaches detect ecosystem responses anthropogenic disturbance form basis management decisions conservation. mitigate windthrows, recommend preserving single or at least their tops with exposed branches during logging. extension green-tree retention will preserve succession associated communities disturbed spruce forests.