Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?
Abstract On the basis of long‐term surveys of permanent plots and traps, we examined the communities of saproxylic beetles, fungi, herbs, and trees on an untreated 22 ha large beech forest windthrow and asked whether the results lend support to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH). We studi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8028 |
| _version_ | 1818904976593780736 |
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| author | Peter Meyer Marcus Schmidt Eike Feldmann Jürgen Willig Robert Larkin |
| author_facet | Peter Meyer Marcus Schmidt Eike Feldmann Jürgen Willig Robert Larkin |
| author_sort | Peter Meyer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract On the basis of long‐term surveys of permanent plots and traps, we examined the communities of saproxylic beetles, fungi, herbs, and trees on an untreated 22 ha large beech forest windthrow and asked whether the results lend support to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH). We studied species richness and the similarity of community composition. Additionally, we grouped species by their frequency trend over time to successional model types to examine whether, corresponding to the IDH, the diversity of these groups explained peak richness at intermediate intervals after the disturbance. In line with the IDH, species richness showed a hump‐backed temporal course for alpha and gamma diversity. We found evidence for a linear succession directly after the disturbance. This, however, did not continue, and in all species groups, a partial recovery of the initial community was observed. In the case of fungi, herbs, and trees, but not for saproxylic beetles, alpha diversity was driven by the diversity of the successional model types. Our results underline that the mechanisms driving species richness after disturbances are more complex than the IDH suggests and that these mechanisms vary with species group. We assumed that, besides competition, legacy effects, facilitation, habitat heterogeneity, and random saturation of the species pool are important. In case of trees and herbs, we found indications for strong legacy and competition effects. For fungi and beetles, substrate heterogeneity and microclimate were assumed to be important. We concluded that disturbances contribute to increasing species richness not only by reducing the effectiveness of competitors but also by increasing the amount and diversity of resources, as well as their rate of change over time. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T21:16:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2983bea65e93447ca945ad0ee1b842bf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T21:16:00Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-2983bea65e93447ca945ad0ee1b842bf2022-12-21T20:05:21ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-09-011118128011281510.1002/ece3.8028Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?Peter Meyer0Marcus Schmidt1Eike Feldmann2Jürgen Willig3Robert Larkin4Department Forest Nature Conservation Northwest German Forest Research Institute Hanoversch‐Münden GermanyDepartment Forest Nature Conservation Northwest German Forest Research Institute Hanoversch‐Münden GermanyDepartment Forest Nature Conservation Northwest German Forest Research Institute Hanoversch‐Münden GermanyDepartment Forest Development and Environment State Forest Enterprise HessenForst Gießen GermanyDepartment Growth and Yield Northwest German Forest Research Institute Göttingen GermanyAbstract On the basis of long‐term surveys of permanent plots and traps, we examined the communities of saproxylic beetles, fungi, herbs, and trees on an untreated 22 ha large beech forest windthrow and asked whether the results lend support to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH). We studied species richness and the similarity of community composition. Additionally, we grouped species by their frequency trend over time to successional model types to examine whether, corresponding to the IDH, the diversity of these groups explained peak richness at intermediate intervals after the disturbance. In line with the IDH, species richness showed a hump‐backed temporal course for alpha and gamma diversity. We found evidence for a linear succession directly after the disturbance. This, however, did not continue, and in all species groups, a partial recovery of the initial community was observed. In the case of fungi, herbs, and trees, but not for saproxylic beetles, alpha diversity was driven by the diversity of the successional model types. Our results underline that the mechanisms driving species richness after disturbances are more complex than the IDH suggests and that these mechanisms vary with species group. We assumed that, besides competition, legacy effects, facilitation, habitat heterogeneity, and random saturation of the species pool are important. In case of trees and herbs, we found indications for strong legacy and competition effects. For fungi and beetles, substrate heterogeneity and microclimate were assumed to be important. We concluded that disturbances contribute to increasing species richness not only by reducing the effectiveness of competitors but also by increasing the amount and diversity of resources, as well as their rate of change over time.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8028biodiversitycompetitiondisturbanceforest managementhabitat heterogeneitysuccession |
| spellingShingle | Peter Meyer Marcus Schmidt Eike Feldmann Jürgen Willig Robert Larkin Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis? Ecology and Evolution biodiversity competition disturbance forest management habitat heterogeneity succession |
| title | Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis? |
| title_full | Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis? |
| title_fullStr | Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis? |
| title_short | Long‐term development of species richness in a central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest affected by windthrow—Support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis? |
| title_sort | long term development of species richness in a central european beech fagus sylvatica forest affected by windthrow support for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis |
| topic | biodiversity competition disturbance forest management habitat heterogeneity succession |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8028 |
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