Structural elements enhanced by retention forestry promote forest and non-forest specialist bees and wasps

Abstract: Retention forestry promotes certain forest structural elements to enhance biodiversity. It is unclear however to
what extent retention measures are suited to enhance the biodiversity of bees and wasps, and how relationships
to structural elements promoted by retention may differ when habitat-based classifications are accounted for.
Here, we analyze the abundance, diversity and species richness of forest and non-forest specialist cavity-nesting
bees and wasps collected on 127 plots in the southern Black Forest, Germany. Our aim was to use habitat-based
classifications, or groupings based on habitat occurrence of cavity-nesting bees and wasps to evaluate the
effectiveness and importance of forest structural elements that are prioritized in biodiversity-focused conservation.
We found that canopy cover, stand structural complexity and standing deadwood were principally
important for abundance, diversity and species richness of bees and wasps, with differing responses among
habitat classifications. Forest specialist biodiversity metrics and composition were related to forest structural
variables indicating greater feeding and nesting resource availability, namely herb cover, standing deadwood
and stand structural complexity. Non-forest specialist biodiversity metrics were related to primarily canopy cover
and elevation while community composition was structured by only forest cover and understory species richness.
Our results indicate the importance of considering habitat specializations of cavity-nesting bee and wasp communities
for meaningful evaluation of retention forestry structural elements. The presence and arrangement of
these forest elements can be altered by stand level management practices utilizing the cascading effects of
structural changes, such as increasing herb cover and sun exposed standing deadwood via canopy opening, and
high stump retention during tree harvesting.
1. Introduction
The presence or absence of resources and abiotic conditions created
by certain habitats can spatially restrict the occurrence and density of
species, e.g. saproxylic beetles dependent on the creation and decomposition
of deadwood in forests (Müller et al., 2015) or specialist bees
foraging for pollen in only mature forest canopies (Urban-Mead et al.,
2021). In cases where a species’ distribution is restricted to a habitat
based on extrinsically rare, yet intrinsically common characteristics, it
can be referred to as a specialist (Rosenzweig, 1981, Morris, 2003, Fortin
et al., 2008). According to this definition, a forest specialist is a species
with a distribution restricted to forest habitat due to the presence of
structural and compositional elements such as deadwood (Radu, 2006,
Müller and Bütler, 2010) and tree canopy (Meißner et al., 2012, Czerwinski
et al., 2014, Haesen et al., 2021, Meeussen et al., 2021), which
create a distinct

Angaben zum Objekt

• Standort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Umfang: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anmerkungen: Forest ecology and management. - 529 (2023) , 120709, ISSN: 0378-1127

Klassifikation und Themen

• Schlagwort: Hautflügler

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wo): Freiburg
• (wer): Universität
• (wann): 2022
• Urheber: Rappa, Nolan J. ; Staab, Michael ; Ruppert, Laura-Sophia ; Frey, Julian ; Bauhus, Jürgen ; Klein, Alexandra-Maria
• Beteiligte Personen und Organisationen: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Professur für Naturschutz und Landschaftsökologie

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120709
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2320718
• Rechteinformation: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 15.08.2025, 07:37 MESZ