Abstract
Reed bed management is one of the main wetland related issues in Europe and among the diverse approaches developed for that purpose, some restoration methods are considered rather intrusive. There is nonetheless a lack of research investigating how invertebrate communities react to such restoration methods. In this study, we assessed the suitability of reed bed soil strippings, also called bed lowerings, as habitats for aquatic beetles by sampling a total of 101 sites along the southern shore of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland. We compared water beetle species richness and taxonomic structure between reed bed soil strippings and other habitats found in the surrounding wetland. Additionally, we evaluated the promotion of new species through strippings and investigated the evolution of water beetle communities along the temporal gradient of reed bed soil strippings. No difference in species composition was found between the sampled habitats, suggesting a well-connected landscape mosaic within the study area. Managed sites did not increase species diversity at the landscape level. We identified a gradual diminution in species richness with age of restored site, as well as a shift in taxonomic assemblages. In conclusion, we advise reed bed soil strippings to be phased temporally and spatially, thus providing managed wetlands open water bodies of different successional stages.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Khalil Outemzabet for his outstanding help both in the field and in the lab as well as Albertine Roulet for identifying the beetles. We are also very grateful to Christophe Sahli and Martins Briedis for their valuable inputs to the manuscript, as well as Michel Baudraz and Dominik Ganser for providing insightful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We thank Angela Minnameyer for kindly verifying the English language. Finally, we are thankful to all our Co-workers at the Association de la Grande Cariçaie for their help and support.
Funding
This study was internally funded by the Association de la Grande Cariçaie.
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Knoblauch, A., Gander, A. Reed bed soil stripping as wetland management method: implications for water beetles. Wetlands Ecol Manage 28, 151–161 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-019-09702-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-019-09702-2