In the past, insect species richness was high in Central European seminatural grasslands, which were characterized by low‐intensity land use. Currently, however, the hay in most of these grasslands is mechanically harvested, which negatively impacts insect biodiversity. One way to reduce this negative effect is to leave unmown patches as refuges. In the current research we evaluated the short‐term effects of leaving an unmown patch on the taxonomic and functional diversity of the Orthoptera assemblage in a meadow. We found that orthopteran species richness and abundance were significantly reduced by mowing, whether or not a patch was left uncut. In contrast, functional evenness, indicating distribution of species abundances in a niche space, was reduced by mowing only if the plot lacked an uncut refuge. Functional richness, indicating the amount of niche space occupied by species, was elevated if the plot had an uncut refuge. Larger species were negatively affected by mowing, while habitat specialists, mobile species and soil‐ovipositing species benefitted from it. We infer that the presence of an uncut patch increased the diversity of habitats available to orthopterans and maintained even distribution of species among niche space. In summary, leaving an unmown refuge in grasslands could increase the functional diversity of orthopterans, even if it does not preserve taxonomic diversity.

中文翻译：

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在草甸收获期间留下未切割的避难所增加了直翅目的功能多样性

过去，中欧半自然草原昆虫物种丰富度高，土地利用强度低。然而，目前，这些草原中的大部分干草都是机械收割的，这对昆虫的生物多样性产生了负面影响。减少这种负面影响的一种方法是将未修剪的斑块作为避难所。在当前的研究中，我们评估了在草地上留下未修剪的补丁对直翅目组合的分类学和功能多样性的短期影响。我们发现，割草会显着降低直翅目物种的丰富度和丰度，无论是否留下未切割的补丁。相比之下，功能均匀度表明生态位空间中物种丰度的分布，只有在地块缺乏未切割的避难所时才会通过割草来降低。功能丰富，如果该地块有一个未切割的避难所，则表明物种占据的生态位空间量会升高。较大的物种受到割草的负面影响，而栖息地专家、流动物种和土壤产卵物种则从中受益。我们推断，未切割斑块的存在增加了直翅目昆虫可用栖息地的多样性，并在生态位空间中保持了物种的均匀分布。总之，在草原上留下一个未经修剪的避难所可以增加直翅目昆虫的功能多样性，即使它不能保持分类多样性。我们推断，未切割斑块的存在增加了直翅目昆虫可用栖息地的多样性，并在生态位空间中保持了物种的均匀分布。总之，在草原上留下一个未经修剪的避难所可以增加直翅目昆虫的功能多样性，即使它不能保持分类多样性。我们推断，未切割斑块的存在增加了直翅目昆虫可用栖息地的多样性，并在生态位空间中保持了物种的均匀分布。总之，在草原上留下一个未经修剪的避难所可以增加直翅目昆虫的功能多样性，即使它不能保持分类多样性。