Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:00:18.113Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Conservation of grassland patches failed to enhance colonization of ground-active beetles on formerly cultivated plots

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2008

SYLVAIN FADDA ,
JEROME ORGEAS ,
PHILIPPE PONEL ,
ELISE BUISSON  and
THIERRY DUTOIT
SYLVAIN FADDA*
Affiliation:
Aix-Marseille Université, Université Paul Cézanne, Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (UMR CNRS/IRD), Europôle Méditerranéen de l'Arbois BP80, Pavillon Villemin, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France
JEROME ORGEAS
Affiliation:
Aix-Marseille Université, Université Paul Cézanne, Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (UMR CNRS/IRD), Europôle Méditerranéen de l'Arbois BP80, Pavillon Villemin, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France
PHILIPPE PONEL
Affiliation:
Aix-Marseille Université, Université Paul Cézanne, Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (UMR CNRS/IRD), Europôle Méditerranéen de l'Arbois BP80, Pavillon Villemin, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France
ELISE BUISSON
Affiliation:
Aix-Marseille Université, Université Paul Cézanne, Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (UMR CNRS/IRD), Europôle Méditerranéen de l'Arbois BP80, Pavillon Villemin, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France Université d'Avignon - IUT, Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (IMEP, UMR CNRS IRD 6116), Site Agroparc, BP 1207, 84 911 Avignon Cedex 09, France
THIERRY DUTOIT
Affiliation:
Université d'Avignon - IUT, Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (IMEP, UMR CNRS IRD 6116), Site Agroparc, BP 1207, 84 911 Avignon Cedex 09, France
*
*Correspondence: Dr Sylvain Fadda Tel: +33 4 42 90 84 76 Fax: +33 4 42 90 84 48 e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The dry grasslands of the Mediterranean Basin have been traditionally managed since ancient times, but have been drastically degraded by recent human activities such as cultivation. Cultivated plots in a dry grassland of Southern France were abandoned more than 20 years ago, but their vegetation and ground-active beetle community structure and composition differ considerably from neighbouring uncultivated grassland plots. Because these formerly cultivated plots are adjacent to an uncultivated grassland area, they constitute a model system for examining beetle recolonization patterns on field margins. No edge effect or ecotone was identified on the margins between two of the formerly cultivated plots and the uncultivated dry grassland; there was no significant peak of beetles species richness in this area. All the most common dry grassland beetle species (mainly saprophagous and predatory species, which are less habitat-specialist than phytophagous species) had already recolonized the formerly cultivated plots. However, although uncultivated dry grassland was adjacent to the formerly cultivated plots it was insufficient for complete regeneration of dry grassland beetle communities on formerly cultivated plots, indicating habitat quality remained lower even after 20 years. Understanding the causes of spatial variation in active-ground beetles at the species level is important before the ecological restoration of habitat quality to its prior state, using the adjacent steppe as a reference.

Keywords

Coleopteradisturbanceecoclineecotoneedge effectfield boundaryMediterranean grasslandresilience
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 109 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asteraki, E.J., Hanks, C.B. & Clements, R.O. (1995) The influence of different types of grassland field margin on carabid beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) communities. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 54: 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austerheim, G. & Olsson, G.A. (1999) How does continuity in grassland management after ploughing affect plant community patterns? Plant Ecology 145: 59–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blondel, J. & Aronson, J. (1999) Biology and Wildlife of the Mediterranean Region. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bonet, A. (2004) Secondary succession of semi-arid Mediterranean old-field in south-eastern Spain: insight for conservation and restoration of degraded lands. Journal of Arid Environments 56: 213–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourrelly, M., Borel, L., Devaux, J.P., Louis-Palluel, J. & Archiloque, A. (1983) Dynamique annuelle et production primaire nette de l'écosystème steppique de Crau (Bouches-du-Rhône). Biologie-Ecologie Méditerranéenne 10: 55–82.Google Scholar
Buisson, E. (2006) Ecological Restoration of Mediterranean Grasslands in Provence and California. Avignon, France: Imprimeries de l'Université d'Avignon.Google Scholar
Buisson, E. & Dutoit, T. (2004) Colonisation by native species of abandoned farmland adjacent to a remnant patch of Mediterranean steppe. Plant Ecology 174: 371–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buisson, E. & Dutoit, T. (2006) Creation of the Natural Reserve of La Crau: implications for the creation and management of protected areas. Journal of Environmental Management 80: 318–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buisson, E., Dutoit, T. & Wolff, A. (2004) Bilan de trente années de recherche en écologie dans la steppe de Crau (Bouches-du-Rhône, sud-est de la France). Ecologia Mediterranea 30: 7–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buisson, E., Dutoit, T., Torre, F., Römermann, C. & Poschlod, P. (2006) The implications of seed rain and seed bank patterns for plant succession at the edges of abandoned fields in Mediterranean landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 115: 6–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buse, A. (1988) Habitat selection and grouping of beetles (Coleoptera). Holoarctic Ecology 11: 241–247.Google Scholar
Crowson, R.A. (1981) The Biology of Coleoptera. London, UK: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Devaux, J.P., Archiloque, A., Borel, L., Bourrelly, M. & Louis-Palluel, J. (1983) Notice de la carte phyto-sociologique de la Crau (Bouches-du-Rhône). Biologie – Ecologie Méditerranéenne 10: 5–54.Google Scholar
Dureau, R. & Bonnefon, O. (1998) Etude des pratiques de gestion pastorale des coussouls. In: Patrimoine Naturel et Pratiques Pastorales en Crau, ed. CEEP, Ecomusée de Crau, pp. 61–89. Miramas, France: Valière.Google Scholar
Dutoit, T., Buisson, E., Gerbaud, E., Roche, P. & Tatoni, T. (2007) The status of transitions between cultivated fields and their boundaries: ecotones, ecoclines or edge effects? Acta Oecologica 31: 127–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutoit, T., Buisson, E., Roche, P. & Alard, D. (2003) Land use history and botanical changes in calcareous hillsides of Upper-Normandy (North-Western France): new implication for their conservation management. Biological Conservation 115: 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erwin, T.L. (1988) The tropical forest canopy: the heart of biotic diversity. In: Biodiversity, ed. Wilson, E.O. & Peter, F.M., pp. 105–109. Washington DC, USA: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Erwin, T.L. (1997) Biodiversity at its utmost: tropical forest beetles. In: Biodiversity II. Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources, ed. Reaka-Kudla, M.L., Wilson, D.E. & Wilson, E.O., pp. 27–40. Washington DC, USA: Joseph Henry Press.Google Scholar
Etienne, M., Aronson, J. & Le Floc'h, E. (1998) Abandoned lands and land use conflicts in Southern France. Ecological Studies 136: 127–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eyre, M.D. (2006) A strategic interpretation of beetle (Coleoptera) assemblages, biotopes, habitats and distribution, and the conservation implication. Journal of Insect Conservation 10: 151–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eyre, M.D., Rushton, S.P., Luff, M.L., Ball, S.G., Foster, G.N. & Topping, C.J. (1986) The use of invertebrate community data in environmental assessment. Newcastle, UK: Agriculture Environment Research Group, University of Newcastle.Google Scholar
Fadda, S., Orgeas, J., Ponel, P. & Dutoit, T. (2004) Organisation et distribution des communautés de Coléoptères dans les interfaces steppe: friches post-culturales en Crau. Ecologia Mediterranea 30: 85–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fadda, S., Orgeas, J., Ponel, P., Buisson, E., Torre, F. & Dutoit, T. (2007) Past cultivation is a factor driving organization of dry grassland ground-active beetle communities. Environmental Conservation 34: 132–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauna Europaea (2004) Fauna Europaea version 1.1 [www document]. URL http://www.faunaeur.org/Google Scholar
Frochot, B. (1987) Synergism in bird communities: a method to measure edge effect. Acta Oecologica 8: 253–258.Google Scholar
Good, J.A. (1999) Recolonisation by Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) of old metalliferous tailings and mine soils in Ireland. Biology and Environment: Proceeding of the Royal Irish Academy 99: 27–35.Google Scholar
Gourov, A., Godron, M. & Loshchev, S. (1999 a) Overlap in distribution of forest and meadow insect species in mesoecotones. I. Epigeic beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Silphidae). Ecologie 30: 165–175.Google Scholar
Gourov, A., Godron, M. & Loshchev, S. (1999 b) Overlap in distribution of forest and meadow insect species in mesoecotones. II. Assemblages of soil-inhabiting wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Ecologie 30: 177–186.Google Scholar
Grove, A.T. & Rackham, O. (2001) The Nature of Mediterranean Europe: An Ecological History. New Haven, UK: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hendrickx, F., Maelfait, J.P., Van Wingerden, W., Schweiger, O., Speelmans, M., Aviron, S., Augenstein, I., Billeter, R., Bailey, D., Bukacek, R., Burel, F., Diekötter, T., Dirksen, J., Herzog, F., Liira, J., Roubalova, M., Vandomme, V. & Bugter, R. (2007) How landscape structure, land-use intensity and habitat diversity affect components of total arthropod diversity in agricultural landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology 44: 340–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henwood, W.D. (1998) An overview of protected areas in the temperate grasslands biome. Parks 8: 3–8.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, A. (1950) Coléoptères Curculionides, (première partie). Paris, France: Librairie de la Faculté des Sciences.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, A. (1954) Coléoptères Curculionides, (deuxième partie). Paris, France: Librairie de la Faculté des Sciences.Google Scholar
Jacobs, B.F., Kingston, J. & Jacobs, L.L. (1999) Origin of grass-dominated ecosystems. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86: 590–643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koch, K. (1989 a) Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie 1. Krefeld, Germany: Goecke and Evers.Google Scholar
Koch, K. (1989 b) Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie 2. Krefeld, Germany: Goecke and Evers.Google Scholar
Koch, K. (1992) Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie 3. Krefeld, Germany: Goecke and Evers.Google Scholar
Kotze, D.J. & Samways, M.J. (2001) No general effects for invertebrates at Afromontane forest/grassland ecotone. Biodiversity and Conservation 10: 443–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lacoste, A. & Salanon, R. (1969) Eléments de biogeography. Paris, France: Nathan.Google Scholar
Legendre, P. & Legendre, L (1998) Numerical Ecology, Second English Version. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Magura, T. (2002) Carabids and forest edge: spatial pattern and edge effect. Forest Ecology and Management 157: 23–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magura, T., Thóthmérész, B. & Molnár, T. (2001) Forest edge and diversity: carabids along forest-grassland transects. Biodiversity and Conservation 10: 287–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moretti, M., Duelli, P. & Obrist, M.K. (2006) Biodiversity and resilience of arthropod communities after fire disturbance in temperate forest. Oecologia 149: 312–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortimer, S.R., Hollier, J. & Brown, V.K. (1998) Interaction between plant and insect diversity in the restoration of lowland calcareous grasslands in southern Britain. Applied Vegetation Sciences 1: 101–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortimer, S.R., Booth, R.G., Harris, S.J. & Brown, V.K. (2002) Effects of initial site management on the Coleoptera assemblages colonising newly established chalk grassland on ex-arable land. Biological Conservation 104: 301–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odum, E.P. (1971) Fundamentals of Ecology. Third edition. Philadelphia, USA: W.B. Saunders Company.Google Scholar
Oliver, I. & Beattie, A.J. (1996) Invertebrate morphospecies as surrogates for species: a case study. Conservation Biology 10: 99–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orgeas, J. & Andersen, A.N. (2001) Fire and biodiversity: responses of grass-layer beetles to experimental fire regimes in an Australian tropical savanna. Journal of Applied Ecology 38: 49–62.Google Scholar
Ozenda, P. (1995) Les végétaux dans la biosphère. Paris, France: Doin.Google Scholar
Perner, J., Wytrykush, C., Kahmen, A., Buchmann, N., Egerer, I., Creutzburg, S., Odat, N., Audorff, V. & Weisser, W.W. (2005) Effect of plant diversity, plant productivity and habitat parameters on arthropods abundance in montane European grasslands. Ecography 28: 429–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poschlod, P. & WallisDeVries, M.F. (2002) The historical and socio-economic perspective of calcareous grasslands-lessons from the distant and recent past. Biological Conservation 104: 361–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quézel, P. & Médail, F. (2003) Ecologie et biogéographie des forêts du bassin méditerranéen. Paris, France: Elsevier, Collection Environnement.Google Scholar
Römermann, C., Dutoit, T., Poschlod, P. & Buisson, E. (2005) Influence of former cultivation on the unique Mediterranean steppe of France and consequences for conservation management. Biological Conservation 121: 21–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saska, P., Vodde, M., Heijerman, T., Westerman, P. & Van DerWerf, W. (2007) The significance of a grassy field boundary for the spatial distribution of carabids within two cereal fields. Agriculture, Ecosystems, Environment 122: 427–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sieren, E. & Fischer, F.P. (2002) Evaluation of measures for enlargement, renaturation and development of a dry grassland biotope by analysing differences in the carabid fauna (Coleoptera). Acta Oecologica 23: 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statsoft France (2004) Statistica software [www document]. URL http://www.statsoft.com/Google Scholar
Stork, N.E. (1991) The composition of the arthropod fauna of Bornean lowland forest trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7: 161–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Der Maarel, E. (1976) On the establishment of plant community boundaries. Bericht der Deutschen Botanischen Geselschaft 5: 473–498.Google Scholar
Wells, T.C.E., Sheail, J., Ball, D.F. & Ward, L.K. (1976) Ecological studies on the Porton Ranges: relationships between vegetation, soil, and land-use history. Journal of Ecology 64: 589–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willems, J.H. & Bic, L.P.M. (1998) Restoration of high species density in calcareous grassland: the role of seed rain and soil seed bank. Applied Vegetation Science 1: 91–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, P.J. & Aebischer, N.J. (1995) The distribution of dicotyledonous arable weeds in relation to distance from the field edge. Journal of Applied Ecology 32: 295–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodcock, B.A., Pywell, R., Roy, D.B., Rose, R.J. & Bell, D. (2005 a) Grazing management of calcareous grasslands and its implications for the conservation of beetles communities. Biological Conservation 125: 193–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodcock, B.A., Westbury, D.B., Potts, S.G., Harris, S.J. & Brown, V.K. (2005 b) Establishing field margins to promote beetle conservation in arable farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 107: 255–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodcock, B.A., Edwards, A.R., Lawson, C.S., Westbury, D.B., Brook, A.J., Harris, S.J., Brown, V.K. & Mortimer, S.R. (2008) Contrasting success in the restoration of plant and phytophagous beetle assemblages of species rich mesotrophic grassland. Oecologia 154: 773–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yahner, R.H. (1988) Changes in wildlife communities near edges. Conservation Biology 4: 333–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Fadda et al. supplementary material

Appendix 1

Download Fadda et al. supplementary material(File)
File 192.5 KB