Long-term changes in surface-active beetle communities in a post-fire successional gradient in Pinus brutia forests
iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 376-382 (2017)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2140-009
Published: Mar 16, 2017 - Copyright © 2017 SISEF
Research Articles
Abstract
Fire is one of the most important ecological factors for many ecosystem types. Since prehistoric times, synergistic effects of fires and humans have led to changes in Eastern Mediterranean ecosystems. The effects of fire on different trophic levels, particularly regarding plants, have been examined intensively in fire-induced ecosystems. In this study, we aimed to study long-term changes in beetle community structure after fire in Pinus brutia Ten. forests. Five sites burned in different years and a control site unburned for at least 50 years were selected. Beetle sampling was conducted using four pit-fall traps in each of four transects in three replication plots at every successional site and in two plots at the control site. Microhabitat variables related to vegetation structure and litter layer were recorded and associated with abundances of beetles and feeding groups. The results showed that total, wood-eating, and predator beetles showed a decreasing trend of abundance along the successional gradient after fire. In contrast to these groups, herbivores tended to increase towards the late successional stages. Middle and late successional stages were important in terms of species richness, species diversity and evenness of beetle communities and feeding groups. The characteristics of vegetation and litter layer changed with successional gradient, playing a decisive role in the structure of beetle communities at successional sites. According to the data presented here, a mosaic structure consisting of different successional stages is very important to sustain high species diversity in beetle communities.
Keywords
Forest Fires, Coleoptera, Brutia Pine, Resilience, Autosuccession
Authors’ Info
Authors’ address
Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, Istiklal Campus, Burdur (Turkey)
Corresponding author
Paper Info
Citation
Kaynas BY (2017). Long-term changes in surface-active beetle communities in a post-fire successional gradient in Pinus brutia forests. iForest 10: 376-382. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2140-009
Academic Editor
Massimo Faccoli
Paper history
Received: Jun 16, 2016
Accepted: Oct 12, 2016
First online: Mar 16, 2017
Publication Date: Apr 30, 2017
Publication Time: 5.17 months
Copyright Information
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2017
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
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