The effects of thinning management on bats and their insect prey in temperate broadleaved woodland
The effects of thinning management on bats and their insect prey in temperate broadleaved woodland
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DOI：
10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117682
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发表时间：
2020-02-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Jones, Gareth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Carr, Andrew;Weatherall, Andrew;Jones, Gareth
树木、树林、森林和相关的生物多样性正在受到人为气候破坏的影响，需要进行管理以维持广泛的生态系统服务的提供。从可持续管理的林地采伐的木材可通过碳替代来减少温室气体排放，直接使用生物质作为生物能源来替代化石燃料，或通过使用木制品代替混凝土和钢材等碳足迹较高的材料来间接减少温室气体排放。然而，了解管理林地以减缓气候变化如何影响生物多样性也很重要。我们通过测量 27 对管理和管理不足的阔叶林地中的蝙蝠物种/物种组丰富度和活动，以及昆虫物种/物种组丰富度和生物量，检验了林地稀疏有利于蝙蝠及其昆虫猎物的假设，并探讨了管理以来对时间的时间响应。测量了十六种林地特征，以调查管理如何影响林地，并评估这些特征对蝙蝠及其昆虫猎物的相对重要性。林地间伐显着减少了已知对林地蝙蝠重要的五种林地特征。与受管理的成对地点相比，管理不足的林地中，直立枯树的数量增加了三倍，树洞的发生频率增加了五倍。林地间伐显着增加了蝙蝠的丰富度和活动。常见且适应性强的蝙蝠物种，以及那些沿着林地边缘觅食的蝙蝠（例如 Pipistrellus pipistrellus），受到管理的积极影响，大概是利用不太杂乱的林地内部。稀有蝙蝠物种和主要栖息在树上的物种（例如 Barbastella barbastellus）受到管理的负面影响，减少了栖息机会。在30年没有间伐的林地中，蝙蝠的总体活动和物种丰富度相对较低，然后才有所增加。昆虫生物量在 30 年没有间伐后达到顶峰。我们建议采取最低限度的干预管理来保护林地中的稀有蝙蝠物种，尽管常见和适应性强的蝙蝠物种可能会受益于中度至重度间伐。通过保留或模仿更能代表古老林地的栖息地特征，例如（i）直立的死树，（ii）树洞，（iii）异质树冠结构，以及（iv）整体整洁的树冠下植被和密集的灌木丛，可以极大地改善所有蝙蝠的可持续稀疏林地。
Trees, woods, forests and associated biodiversity are being affected by anthropogenic climate breakdown, and need management to maintain delivery of a wide range of ecosystem services. Wood harvested from sustainably managed woodlands can be used to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through carbon substitution, directly using biomass for bioenergy to replace fossil fuels or indirectly through the use of wood products instead of higher carbon footprint materials such as concrete and steel. However, it is also important to understand how managing woodlands to mitigate climate change affects biodiversity.We tested the hypotheses that thinning woodland benefits bats and their insect prey by measuring bat species/species group richness and activity, and insect species/species group richness and biomass in 27 pairs of managed and under-managed broadleaved woodlands, and explored temporal responses to time since management. Sixteen woodland characteristics were measured to investigate how management affected woodlands, and to assess the relative importance of these characteristics to bats and their insect prey.Woodland thinning significantly reduced five woodland characteristics known to be important for woodland-dwelling bats. Standing dead trees were three times more abundant, and tree cavities five times more frequent in under-managed woodland compared with managed paired sites.Woodland thinning significantly increased bat richness and activity. Common and adaptable bat species, and those that forage along woodland edges (e.g. Pipistrellus pipistrellus), were positively affected by management, presumably exploiting less cluttered woodland interiors. Rarer bat species, and species that roost predominantly in trees (e.g. Barbastella barbastellus) were negatively affected by management, which reduced roosting opportunities. Overall bat activity and species richness were relatively low in woodland that had not been thinned for 30 years before increasing. Insect biomass peaked after 30 years of no thinning.We recommend minimum intervention management to conserve rare bat species in woodlands, although common and adaptable bat species may benefit from intermediate to heavy thinning. Sustainably thinned woodland could be greatly improved for all bats by retaining or mimicking habitat characteristics that are more representative of old growth woodland such as (i) standing dead trees, (ii) tree cavities, (iii) heterogeneous canopy architecture, and (iv) an overall uncluttered below-canopy vegetation with pockets of densely cluttered shrubs.