Saproxylic beetles in non-intervention and coppice-with-standards restoration management in Meerdaal forest (Belgium): an exploratory analysis

Abstract

For many centuries, coppice-with-standards management was applied in the mixed oak stands of Meerdaal forest (Belgium). Over the last century, these stands were gradually converted to high forest. On an area of 20 ha, the coppice-with-standards management is being restored, with specific adaptations for biodiversity (conservation of dead wood and veteran trees). A survey of saproxylic beetles was performed at 8 locations in the forest, including one site within the coppice-with-standards restoration. This survey not only allowed an evaluation of the saproxylic beetle richness of the forest complex, but also made exploratory observations on the effect of this type of management, as compared to non-intervention, on species richness and composition of saproxylic beetles. The results show that the overall species richness in the forest complex was quite high and comparable to forest reserves in Germany. Both coppice-with-standards and high forest options appear to be equally speciesrich, but consist of different communities, both containing specific, rare and notable species, with more thermophilous and light-demanding species in the coppice-with-standards plot. Based on these observations we suggest that a diversified management approach may be the most suitable to conserve and enhance diverse saproxylic beetle communities in formerly intensively managed semi-natural woodlands. This could include areas of active conservation management aimed at producing open-canopy stands with considerable amounts of sun-exposed deadwood, combined with areas of non-intervention in a matrix of multifunctional forests, where conservation of dead wood and veteran trees is fully incorporated in the management.

Kennisopbouw rond efficiëntie van beheertechnieken voor lichtminnende soorten binnen bos: Voortgangsrapport 2016 : bespreking van een aantal specifieke veldexperimenten

“…Enkele jaren terug lieten we een doorgedreven inventarisatie van kevers uitvoeren in het Meerdaalwoud in lente en zomer van 2010 en 2011 (Vandekerkhove et al 2012;2014 Elk station bestaat uit een combinatie van een vensterval en een lijmring (= passive catch) die opgesteld zijn van april tot november. De venstervallen worden tweewekelijks geledigd.…”

“…Zo houden ze het beste contact met andere waardevolle open terreinen buiten het bos en behoudt men een voldoende grote, niet versnipperde gesloten boskern waar het bosklimaat, dat essentieel is voor heel wat soorten (kevers, maar ook nachtvlinders, slakken, …), niet wordt verstoord. (Vandekerkhove et al 2016) en de peer-reviewed paper verschenen in Iforest (Vandekerkhove et al 2015).…”

Assessing the influence of harvesting intensities on structural diversity of forests in south-west Germany

“…Müller et al 2008;Gossner et al 2013). The lack of broad-scale assessments of the relationship between harvesting intensity and biodiversity or biodiversity surrogates limits the generalization of these findings for larger areas (Gilliam 2002;Roberts and Zhu 2002;Vandekerkhove et al 2016).…”

Decadal effects of landscape‐wide enrichment of dead wood on saproxylic organisms in beech forests of different historic management intensity

“…for timber production) (Morales-Hidalgo, Oswalt, & Somanathan, 2015), debates on the effectiveness of land sparing versus land sharing concepts (Fischer et al, 2008;Grau, Kuemmerle, & Macchi, 2013) are important, and conservation strategies need to be assessed for their efficacy. It has been shown that land sharing, that is, integrative conservation approaches in European forests, can locally promote saproxylic organisms, depending on the time-scale and taxon, by restoring or retaining dead wood and old-growth elements (Brunet & Isacsson, 2009;Komonen, Kuntsi, Toivanen, & Kotiaho, 2014;Pasanen, Junninen, & Kouki, 2014;Vandekerkhove & Thomaes, 2016). However, most of these approaches are restricted to the stand scale, and landscape-wide applications of dead-wood enrichment and their evaluation with respect to biodiversity are rare.…”