Wildlife conservation through forestry abandonment: responses of beetle communities to habitat change in the Eastern Alps

摘要: Research on changes in biodiversity due to the abandonment of forestry is important understanding role reserves conservation. The aim this study was investigate whether have occurred species richness, abundance and composition ground, longhorn bark beetles habitat as a result cessation forest management. We surveyed ten managed abandoned plots two watersheds located north-eastern Italian alpine region, which share common history use, climate regimes, stand structure topography. Ground beetles, were collected with pitfall flight-intercept window traps, respectively, from May mid-October 2010. three beetle taxa responded differently features management cessation. Differences individual responses between may indicate through its impact structure. For instance, ground mainly negatively soil moisture positively understorey vegetation cover. Unexpectedly, saproxylic variably, often negatively, deadwood these forests, but did respond volume standing Abies alba trees. assemblages carabids differed watersheds. Our results confirmed that 50 years resulted likely their response Moreover, we expect where unplanned practices rewilding are undergoing, like many marginal areas Europe, similar dynamics occur spontaneously.