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Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Currently, we are observing a drastic decline in insect biodiversity. The aim of this study was to determine whether grazing by European bison (Bison bonasus (L.)) has potential for the implementation of conservation measures. Therefore, a study on a free-ranging European bison popul...

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Autores principales: Schwerk, Axel, Klich, Daniel, Wójtowicz, Elżbieta, Olech, Wanda
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7915693/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33562635
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology10020123
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author Schwerk, Axel
Klich, Daniel
Wójtowicz, Elżbieta
Olech, Wanda
author_facet Schwerk, Axel
Klich, Daniel
Wójtowicz, Elżbieta
Olech, Wanda
author_sort Schwerk, Axel
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Currently, we are observing a drastic decline in insect biodiversity. The aim of this study was to determine whether grazing by European bison (Bison bonasus (L.)) has potential for the implementation of conservation measures. Therefore, a study on a free-ranging European bison population and captive herds in enclosures was carried out in order to determine whether this animal’s grazing activity impacts species composition and the ecological characteristics of carabid beetle assemblages. No notable influence on the numbers of individuals of carabid beetles could be detected, but there was an indication that high-intensity grazing may cause an increase in the number of species. Increased grazing activity had a stronger influence on the ecological characteristics of the species assemblages than on the species composition. This result indicates that using European bison grazing as a method for nature conservation may have more potential in regulating properties and functions of the ecosystem than in the conservation of specific species or species assemblages of carabid beetles. ABSTRACT: Currently we are observing a drastic decline in insect fauna on a large scale. Grazing is regularly used as an ecological method of protecting or restoring special biotopes that are important for species conservation. The European bison (Bison bonasus (L.)) is the largest living wild terrestrial animal in Europe; therefore, a large impact on flora and fauna as a result of its grazing activity can be assumed. There might be potential for implementing conservation measures that employ active grazing. Therefore, a study on a free-ranging European bison population and captive herds in enclosures was carried out in order to determine whether European bison grazing has an impact on carabid beetle assemblages and whether the degree of this impact (if any) depends on the intensity of grazing. No notable influence on numbers of individuals of carabid beetles could be detected, but there was an indication that high-intensity grazing may cause an increase in the number of species. Increased intensity of grazing seems to have only a weak impact on the species assemblage structure, but it has a stronger impact on the composition of functional traits in the assemblage, as demonstrated in particular by the significant impact of captive herds. The stronger relation between grazing intensity and the functional traits of the carabid beetle assemblages than between grazing intensity and assemblage structure indicates that using European bison grazing as a method of ecological engineering in the context of nature conservation may have more potential in regulating properties and functions of the ecosystem than in the conservation of specific species or species assemblages of carabid beetles.
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spelling pubmed-79156932021-03-01 Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland Schwerk, Axel Klich, Daniel Wójtowicz, Elżbieta Olech, Wanda Biology (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Currently, we are observing a drastic decline in insect biodiversity. The aim of this study was to determine whether grazing by European bison (Bison bonasus (L.)) has potential for the implementation of conservation measures. Therefore, a study on a free-ranging European bison population and captive herds in enclosures was carried out in order to determine whether this animal’s grazing activity impacts species composition and the ecological characteristics of carabid beetle assemblages. No notable influence on the numbers of individuals of carabid beetles could be detected, but there was an indication that high-intensity grazing may cause an increase in the number of species. Increased grazing activity had a stronger influence on the ecological characteristics of the species assemblages than on the species composition. This result indicates that using European bison grazing as a method for nature conservation may have more potential in regulating properties and functions of the ecosystem than in the conservation of specific species or species assemblages of carabid beetles. ABSTRACT: Currently we are observing a drastic decline in insect fauna on a large scale. Grazing is regularly used as an ecological method of protecting or restoring special biotopes that are important for species conservation. The European bison (Bison bonasus (L.)) is the largest living wild terrestrial animal in Europe; therefore, a large impact on flora and fauna as a result of its grazing activity can be assumed. There might be potential for implementing conservation measures that employ active grazing. Therefore, a study on a free-ranging European bison population and captive herds in enclosures was carried out in order to determine whether European bison grazing has an impact on carabid beetle assemblages and whether the degree of this impact (if any) depends on the intensity of grazing. No notable influence on numbers of individuals of carabid beetles could be detected, but there was an indication that high-intensity grazing may cause an increase in the number of species. Increased intensity of grazing seems to have only a weak impact on the species assemblage structure, but it has a stronger impact on the composition of functional traits in the assemblage, as demonstrated in particular by the significant impact of captive herds. The stronger relation between grazing intensity and the functional traits of the carabid beetle assemblages than between grazing intensity and assemblage structure indicates that using European bison grazing as a method of ecological engineering in the context of nature conservation may have more potential in regulating properties and functions of the ecosystem than in the conservation of specific species or species assemblages of carabid beetles. MDPI 2021-02-05 /pmc/articles/PMC7915693/ /pubmed/33562635 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology10020123 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Schwerk, Axel
Klich, Daniel
Wójtowicz, Elżbieta
Olech, Wanda
Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland
title Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland
title_full Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland
title_fullStr Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland
title_full_unstemmed Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland
title_short Impact of European Bison Grazing (Bison bonasus (L.)) on Species and Functional Traits of Carabid Beetle Assemblages in Selected Habitats in Poland
title_sort impact of european bison grazing (bison bonasus (l.)) on species and functional traits of carabid beetle assemblages in selected habitats in poland
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7915693/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33562635
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology10020123
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