Effects of retained dead wood on predation pressure on herbivores in young pine forests

Abstract

Retention of logging residue as dead wood could be a method to simultaneously increase biodiversity and predation rates of pest insects, in managed forests. Managed forests are generally low in diversity, and dead wood has been demonstrated to increase species diversity. Moreover, managed forests are predicted to suffer from higher frequency of insect outbreaks in the future, particularly in the northern hemisphere. In this study, we explore the effect of dead wood removal and addition in managed pine forest stands in Sweden on arthropod diversity and abundance and predation rates. We performed a controlled field experiment, focusing on logging residue type of dead wood. We used pitfall traps and sticky traps to measure arthropod diversity and abundance and plasticine larvae to assess predation rates. We specifically targeted generalist arthropods (i.e. non-wood living species), and predation rate on tree-dwelling larvae (corresponding to defoliating outbreak pests). We found no effect of dead wood addition on arthropod abundance or diversity, neither did we find an effect on predation rate. Despite the lack of effects in our study, we argue that dead wood can be an important component for both biodiversity of generalist arthropod and for pest control, but the effect may depend on both the specific arthropod group targeted and the specific life stage of the pest insect as well as on inherent components of the dead wood, such as age.

Published in

PLoS ONE
2022, volume: 17, number: 9, article number: e0273741
Publisher: PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

SLU Authors

• Nordkvist, Michelle

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Jonsson, Stephanie

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Jonsell, Mats

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Klapwijk, Maartje

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network
SLU Forest Damage Center

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273741

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/120593