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dc.contributor.authorLaksforsmo Vindstad, Ole Petter
dc.contributor.authorSchultze, Sabrina
dc.contributor.authorJepsen, Jane Uhd
dc.contributor.authorBiuw, Erik Martin
dc.contributor.authorKapari, Lauri Teemu
dc.contributor.authorSverdrup-Thygeson, Anne
dc.contributor.authorIms, Rolf Anker
dc.date.accessioned2015-03-05T10:20:09Z
dc.date.available2015-03-05T10:20:09Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractSaproxylic insects play an important part in decomposing dead wood in healthy forest ecosystems, but little is known about their role in the aftermath of large-scale forest mortality caused by pest insect outbreaks. We used window traps to study short-term changes in the abundance and community structure of saproxylic beetles following extensive mortality of mountain birch in sub-arctic northern Norway caused by an outbreak of geometrid moths. Three to five years after the outbreak, the proportion of obligate saproxylic individuals in the beetle community was roughly 10% higher in forest damaged by the outbreak than in undamaged forest. This was mainly due to two early-successional saproxylic beetle species. Facultative saproxylic beetles showed no consistent differences between damaged and undamaged forest. These findings would suggest a weak numerical response of the saproxylic beetle community to the dead wood left by the outbreak. We suggest that species-specific preferences for certain wood decay stages may limit the number of saproxylic species that respond numerically to an outbreak at a particular time, and that increases in responding species may be constrained by limitations to the amount of dead wood that can be exploited within a given timeframe (i.e. satiation effects). Low diversity of beetle species or slow development of larvae in our cold sub-arctic study region may also limit numerical responses. Our study suggests that saproxylic beetles, owing to weak numerical responses, may so far have played a minor role in decomposing the vast quantities of dead wood left by the moth outbreak.en_US
dc.identifier.citationPLoS ONE (2014) Volume 9, Issue 6, e99624en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1137429
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0099624
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/7338
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-uit_munin_6932
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS)en_US
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488en_US
dc.titleNumerical responses of saproxylic beetles to rapid increases in dead wood availability following geometrid moth outbreaks in sub-arctic mountain birch foresten_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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