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Species variables or environmental variables as indicators of forest biodiversity: a case study using saproxylic beetles in Maritime pine plantations

Approche directe ou indirecte pour les indicateurs de biodiversité en forêt : l’exemple des coléoptères saproxyliques dans les plantations de pin maritime

Annals of Forest Science volume 66, page 306 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

  • • To assess the sustainability of plantation forest management we compare two types of biodiversity indicators. We used the species richness of saproxylic beetles as a case study to test the “species” and “environmental” indicator approaches. We compared single species abundance or occurrence and deadwood volume or diversity as predictor variables.

  • • Beetles were sampled with flight interception traps in 40 Maritime pine plantation stands. The volume and diversity of deadwood was estimated with line intersect and plot sampling in the same stands. Predictive models of species richness were built with simple linear or Partial Least Square regressions.

  • • Deadwood variables appeared to be good predictors of saproxylic beetle richness at the stand-scale with at least 75% of variance explained. Deadwood diversity variables consistently provided better predictive models than volume variables. The best environmental indicator was the diversity of deadwood elements larger than 15 cm in diameter.

  • • By contrast, the use of “species variables” appeared to be less relevant. To reach the quality of prediction obtained with “environmental variables”, the abundance or occurrence of 6 to 7 species — some of which are difficult to identify — had to be used to build the indicator.

Résumé

  • • Pour améliorer le suivi de la gestion durable des forêts de plantation, nous avons cherché à développer des indicateurs de biodiversité en prenant pour exemple la richesse en Coléoptères saproxyliques. Nous avons comparé l’approche directe, basée sur l’abondance ou l’occurrence de certaines espèces de coléoptères saproxyliques, et l’approche indirecte, basée sur les caractéristiques du bois mort comme variables prédictives.

  • • Les Coléoptères ont été inventoriés à l’aide de pièges à interception dans 40 peuplements de pin maritime. Le volume et la diversité des pièces de bois mort ont été estimés à l’aide d’un échantillonnage par transects ou par placettes dans les mêmes plantations. Les modèles prédictifs ont été construits à l’aide de régressions linéaires simples ou PLS.

  • • Les variables locales de bois mort apparaissent comme de bons prédicteurs de la richesse spécifique en coléoptères saproxyliques, avec jusqu’à 75% de la variance expliquée. Les variables de diversité du bois mort semblent de meilleurs prédicteurs que les variables volumiques. Le meilleur indicateur « indirect » pourrait être la diversité des pièces de bois mort de diamètre supérieur à 15 cm.

  • • En revanche, le recours à des indicateurs « directs » semble moins prometteur. Pour obtenir une qualité de prédiction équivalente à l’approche indirecte, il faudrait prendre en compte l’abondance ou l’occurrence d’au moins 6 ou 7 espèces dont certaines sont difficilement identifiables.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. École d’Ingénieurs de Purpan, Université de Toulouse, 75 voie du T.O.E.C., BP 57611, F-31076, Toulouse Cedex 03, France

    Antoine Brin & Hervé Brustel

  2. UMR 1202 BIOGECO Laboratory of Forest Entomology & Biodiversity, INRA, 69 route d’Arcachon, F-33612, Cestas, France

    Hervé Jactel

  3. UMR1202 BIOGECO, Université de Bordeaux 1, F-33612, Cestas, France

    Hervé Jactel

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  1. Antoine Brin
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  2. Hervé Brustel
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Brin, A., Brustel, H. & Jactel, H. Species variables or environmental variables as indicators of forest biodiversity: a case study using saproxylic beetles in Maritime pine plantations. Ann. For. Sci. 66, 306 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009009

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Annals of Forest Science

ISSN: 1297-966X