Species‐Richness Correlations of Six Different Taxa in Swedish Seminatural Grasslands

Abstract

An important question in conservation biology is whether the biodiversity of different taxa is correlated. We studied the extent to which the number of species of six different taxa—plants, birds, butterflies, bumblebees, ground beetles, and dung beetles—in 31 Swedish seminatural grasslands covary, and whether species diversity can be related to habitat variables. During 1996 and 1997, we surveyed plants and animals with appropriate techniques for each taxa and mapped the grassland habitat. In general, correlations between taxa were few. Grassland plant diversity (currently used as an indicator for conservation value) was only significantly positively correlated to total bird diversity. Bumblebee diversity was significantly positively related to both total and grassland butterflies, whereas there was a significant negative relationship between grassland birds and dung beetles. Plants, birds, bumblebees, and butterflies showed significant similarities in patterns of species composition, as did birds, butterflies, grassland butterflies, and ground beetles. The total number of plants and both subsets of birds (total and grassland) were significantly positively related to area, whereas there was a significant negative association between area and dung‐beetle diversity. The diversity of both butterflies and bumblebees was significantly negatively related to the proportion of short‐grazed field layer. Bumblebees showed a positive relationship with junipers, whereas ground beetles and grassland birds were negatively associated with trees. The total number of bird species was positively influenced by the occurrence of shrubs. Our results suggest that neither the species richness of grassland plants nor that of any other of the surveyed taxa can be used as an indicator for total biodiversity in seminatural grasslands. The lack of similar patterns of species composition among taxa also makes it difficult to define functional groups with similar habitat demands. Until we have more detailed knowledge of the demands of species and taxa, it is important that we direct management efforts so that we provide a wide spectrum of grassland characteristics.

Identifying practical indicators of biodiversity for stand-level management of plantation forests

“…The variation in responses among the species groups to changes in forest structure and canopy species, and the different sets of indicators identified for them, suggest that no one group can act as a surrogate for biodiversity of all other groups. Other studies have come to similar con-clusions (Prendergast et al 1993;Lawton et al 1998;Jonsson and Jonsell 1999;Vessby et al 2002;Oertli et al 2005;Simila¨ et al 2006).…”

“…The universality and applicability of surrogacy relationships among species groups-where the diversity of one group reflects diversity in another, unrelated group-are the focus of much recent conservation biology research, with mixed results (e.g. Howard et al 1998;Vessby et al 2002;Saetersdal et al 2003;Anand et al 2005;Oertli et al 2005;Williams et al 2006;Simila¨ et al 2006). Important elements of forest structure that may serve as structural indicators include tree size, vertical foliage distribution, horizontal canopy distribution and density and abundance of deadwood (Noss 1990;Spies 1998).…”

Contrasting multi-taxa diversity patterns between abandoned and non-intensively managed forests in the southern Dolomites

“…Assessing the response of multiple taxa to forest management could provide more robust information on forest biodiversity patterns and drivers compared to focusing only on a single taxon (Lawton et al 1998, Vessby et al 2002, Fattorini et al 2011. For example, the use of a multi-taxon approach is the basis for elucidating the potential co-variation among organisms exploiting different substrates (e.g., soil, dead wood, tree bark) and occupying different trophic levels (Blasi et al 2010).…”

Monitoring of butterflies in semi-natural grasslands: diurnal variation and weather effects

“…The increase in the percentage of species richness found with different number of visits approximated a characteristic logarithmic distribution for all pastures, which is in agreement with Dennis et al (1999). Vessby et al (2002) found that the number of 1=0-25 %, 2=26-50 %, 3=51-75 % and 4=76-100 %. observed butterfly species reached an asymptote between 5 and 10 visits, which corroborates the results from the present study. The increase in the proportion of total species found was especially pronounced when comparing one, two and three visits.…”