Arthropod biodiversity in virgin and managed beech forests

Background

Project team

Biological diversity can be seen as a general indicator for ecosystem stability and ecological resilience. In a similar way, natural or even virgin forests serve as a model for sustainably managed forests in Europe. While in the boreal zones of Europe the concept of nature-oriented silviculture has its main emphasis on maintaining biodiversity, the main goal in Central Europe so far has focused on manipulating forest stand development towards the potential original forest cover. In Europe, the only large remnants of virgin forests are located in the Nordic Countries (Finland, boreal Poland and Russia), as well as in the eastern parts of Central Europe along the Carpathian belt

Objectives

The main questions are:

• What are the basic differences in species composition and diversity between virgin and managed forests with similar tree species composition?
• What taxonomic groups of arthropods may serve as indicators of natural forest ecosystems?
• What makes virgin forests better forests? Biodiversity evaluation depends on the value systems of the stakeholders involved. Indicators for conservation value, ecosystem functions, wilderness, uniqueness, or species richness may not correlate, or even correlate negatively.
  
  

Methods

The species composition of arthropods is used for a pair-wise comparison of the biodiversity in virgin forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians and managed Swiss forests with similar tree species composition. In both countries, pure beech forests and fir-spruce-beech forests are assessed at comparable altitudes and exposures.

To collect surface-dwelling arthropods, we use pitfall-traps with a funnel diameter of 15 cm. For the collection of flying insects we employ a combination of window interception traps and yellow water-pan traps. The main arthropod groups in the samples are identified to the species level by specialists in the Ukraine.

Partners

• Uzhgorod National University, Ukraine (Vasyl Chumak)
• WSL (Peter Duelli, Martin Obrist)
  
  

Publications

• Chumak, V. O., 2008: Problemi inventarisaziji ta monitorinhu risnomanittja beschrebetnich tvarin v rehioni ukrajinc’kich karpat. In: Hamor F.D. (ed.): Rozvitok zapovidnoji spravi v Ukrajini i formuvannja pan'evropejs'koji ekolohi noij mereži. Materiali mižnarodnoji konferenciji, Ukrajina, Rachiv, 11-13 listopada 2008 roku: 461-468.
• Chumak, V.; Duelli, P.; Rizun, V.; Obrist, M.K.; Wirz, P., 2005: Arthropod biodiversity in virgin and managed forests in Central Europe. For. Snow Landsc. Res. 79, 1/2:101-109.
• Duelli, P.; Chumak, V.; Obrist, M. K.; Wirz, P., 2005: The biodiversity values of European virgin forests. For. Snow Landsc. Res. 79, 1/2:91-99.
  
  

Funding

The study is funded by the SNSF within the framework SCOPES (Institutional Partnership Projects 7IP 062590 and IB74A0-111087).

Contact

• Martin Obrist