Fire, a frequent disturbance in the Mediterranean, affects pollinator communities. We explored the response of major pollinator guilds to fire severity, across a fire‐severity gradient at different spatial scales. We show that the abundance of all pollinator groups responded to fire severity, and that bees and beetles showed in addition a significant species‐diversity response. Bees, sawflies, and wasps responded to fire severity at relatively small spatial scales (250–300 m), whereas flies and beetles responded at larger spatial scales. The response of bees, sawflies, and wasps was unimodal, as predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, whereas flies and beetles showed a negative response. A possible explanation is that the observed patterns (spatial scale and type of response) are driven by taxa‐specific ecological and life‐history traits, such as nesting preference and body size, as well as the availability of resources in the postfire landscape. Our observational study provides an insight into the effect of fire severity on pollinators. However, future research exploring the explicit link between the pre‐ and postfire landscape structure and pollinator traits and responses is required for further establishment and understanding of cause–effect relationships.
The freshwater biodiversity decline affects all trophic levels, prompting restoration efforts. While habitat restoration for fish is well-studied, habitat restoration to benefit other sensitive taxa such as Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) remains poor. Consequently, this study investigated the habitat function of a man-made naturelike bypass system for EPT taxa in a highly modified alpine river with several drift feeding fishes. Spatially and temporally distributed drift samples were used to test the hypotheses that the bypass (a) enhances the density of drifting individuals compared to the main river and (b) diversifies drift assemblages compared to the main river. Mean drift density of EPT taxa was lowest in the main stem of the river close to the inlet of the bypass (38.24 Ind./100m 3 ) and significantly increased toward the downstream direction of the bypass, near the outflow (61.49 Ind./100m 3 ). In addition, drift assemblages significantly changed from the main stem to the bypass and the number of EPT taxa detected more than doubled (main stem: 16 genera; last site in the bypass: 33 genera), indicating that the bypass can provide a macroinvertebrate source to the main stem. Seasonal and diel drift patterns were similar to those observed in natural streams, underpinning the finding that nature-like bypass systems can feature an EPT community similar to natural rivers.This study aligns with a growing body of evidence on the habitat function of nature-like bypass systems for aquatic taxa and highlights the importance of this restoration measure beyond the aspect of solely restoring habitat connectivity.
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