Preventative Fire Procedures in Mediterranean Woods Are

J Insect Conserv DOI 10.1007/s10841-008-9177-y

POINT-OF-VIEW

Preventative ﬁre procedures in Mediterranean woods are destroying their insect Biodiversity: a plea to the EU Governments

J. A. Quartau

Received: 23 November 2007 / Accepted: 16 June 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

Mediterranean forests and shrubland have been burned Clearly, through the present detrimental practice, the down by more and more frequent and intensive summer obvious result will be the loss of an important proportion of fires during the last decades (Ramade 1990; Blondel and the arthropod biodiversity in Portugal. In fact, although Aronson 1999). Portugal, where forests and woods make forest size has obviously effect, the most important factor about 2/3 of its continental territory, is no exception since in conserving woodland insects is the amount of under- forest fires have been also catastrophic there in part as a storey vegetation (Dennis et al. 1995). result of large continuous tracts with high tree density and Thus, many already rare insect species are expected to understorey development that facilitate fire access to tree dwindle in numbers or even become extinct in a country canopies. with a high rate of endemicity and where more than half of With a view to the prevention and management of these its presumed entomofauna, totalling up to about 30,000 fires, the Government published a recent law (Decreto-Lei species, is yet to be recognized or even described to science no. 124/2006) which, among a complex set of other man- (Quartau and Carvalho 1998). agement measures, establishes rules for the mandatory Taking the example of the families within the Hemiptera clearance of the forest vegetation. The law, however, does Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha, more than 40 species not contemplate any strategy to conserve the woodland were recorded by Seabra (1931) in just one tract of Pinus biodiversity (ground flora and the associated fauna). In the pinaster in the area of Leiria. Within the former group, meanwhile, a number of small and medium enterprises immediately comes to my mind about half a score of (SMEs) have emerged and have followed an extreme endemic species mostly associated with grasses of the ‘‘tidied up’’ regime through which they thoroughly remove understorey that might be under the risk of extinction. So, across all the forest patch the entire ground cover made up within the Cicadellidae the following endemic leafhoppers of shrubs, herbaceous plants and grasses and in a way that mostly occur in the undergrowth of pine woods (Pinus the litter layer of the forest floor is also severely damaged. pinaster) and chestnut woods (Castanea sativa): Adarrus Hence, the entire associated forest-dwelling fauna (mostly beirae Lindberg, Mocydiopsis nigrolineata Remane, insects and other arthropods) is also removed. These Lusitanocephalus sacarraoi Quartau, Agallia linnavuorii ‘‘tidying up’’ operations strongly contrast with the tradi- Quartau and Jassargus remanei Quartau (Quartau 1970, tional management regimes of a few decades ago, where in 1971, 1986; Nast 1987). A similar situation occurs with pinewoods, for instance, practically only the broken bran- cicadas, which oviposit in many cases on herbaceous plants ches, dead needles and pine cones were taken by occurring in pine woods (Pinus pinaster and P. pinea) and landowners for fuel. in olive groves (Olea europaea). Of the 13 distinct cicadas recognized in Portugal, the following four are endemic and with the exception of the last one, all have small popula- J. A. Quartau (&) tions restricted to a few woodland sites in Portugal: Depto. de Biologia Animal/Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Euryphara contentei Boulard, Tettigetta estrellae Boulard, Fac. de Cieˆncias de Lisboa, C2, Campo Grande, 1750 Lisbon, Portugal T. mariae Quartau & Boulard and Cicada barbara lusita- e-mail: [email protected] nica Boulard (Quartau and Fonseca 1988; Sueur et al. 123 J Insect Conserv

2004). Our knowledge on the other groups of forest- understorey and floor strata also causes the removal of the dwelling insects in Portugal is still poor and fragmentary, natural enemies (predators and parasitoids of phytophagous but all evidence points to the fact that such entomofauna insects), which use various available resources in such follows a similar pattern as pointed out with the Cicado- layers, namely in their development or in finding shelter morpha and is as rich and diverse as elsewhere in southern and overwintering refuge. It is well known that such pre- Europe. For instance, the Microcoryphia has got several dators and parasitoids feed on other insects and play an woodland species such as Dilta machadoi Bitsch, a narrow- important role to prevent populations from reaching the range taxon occurring in pine woods (Bitsch 1966; Mendes pest status. So, it is not surprising that the removal of 1976). Collembola occur in a great variety of habitats and natural enemies constitutes one of the important factors are quite important components of the forests floor. that may cause pest outbreaks (e.g. Price 1987; Risch 1987; Examples of endemic or narrow-range species occurring in Speight et al. 1999). Moreover, when these are removed Portuguese pine woods are, for instance Proisotoma gisini from forest patches contiguous to crops, it is not unrea- Gama, Gamachorutes verrucosus Cassagnau and Lepido- sonable that agricultural pests might also be induced. cyrtus lusitanicus Gama (da Gama 1964; da Gama et al. In addition, even a greater threat to the Portuguese insect 1997). Coleoptera also contain woodland endemic species biodiversity is the recently announced industrial exploita- such as Geocaris portalegrensis Serrano & Aguiar, an tion of forest biomass to get energy. Here everything is to endogeous carabid found in Pinus pinaster patches or be cleared across the forest patches: trees, bushes, herbs interesting chrysomelids found in a variety of open woods and grasses, as well as dead leaves, broken branches and such as Labidostomis lusitanica (Germar), Cryptocephalus decaying or dead wood. Perhaps this will wreck most forest tristigma Charpentier and C. celtibericus Suffrian (Serrano habitats in the country and, if not regulated, the overall loss 1981; Serrano and Aguiar 2000; Serrano et al. 2002). With will be impressive. All this dramatically contrasts with the respect to the Diptera, Ribeiro (1990, 1992) has found EU0s objective of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 (cf. mycetophilids mostly in pine woods, such as Bolitophila Convention on Biological Diversity 2001; UNEP 2002)! pseudohybrida Landrock, Cordyla styliforceps (Bukowski) As such, entomologists and ecologists from other south or Exechia peyerimhoffi Burghele-Balacesco. In the Lepi- European countries—where intense summer fires rage out doptera, where much data are still lacking for the of control more and more frequently and where similar Heterocera, several examples of forest-dwelling species are detrimental procedures for the prevention of fires might known in the Rhopalocera, as in those associated with the also be put into practice—are strongly requested to make herbaceous layer of Quercus pyrenaica woods, for instance urgent pleas to the European Commission and the IUCN. In the threatened nymphalids Brenthis ino (Rottemburg), short, pressure should be made on the EU Governments in B. hecate (Denis & Schiffermueller) or the also threatened order to introduce in their fire management bills (and in Hemaris lucina (Linnaeus), together with several grass- regulations dealing with the exploitation of the forest bio- feeder satyrids or the papilionid Zerynthia rumina (Lin- mass) sound habitat management procedures that may naeus) and the lycaenid Callophrys rubi (Linnaeus) whose safeguard the conservation of what still remains of the larvae feed on herbaceous plants for instance in pine woods formerly rich insect biodiversity of the Mediterranean (Maravalhas 2003; Bivar de Sousa and Patrıćia Pereira, woodlands (Balletto and Casale 1991). pers. com.). Finally an important group of insect related Broadly speaking, the present law (Decreto-Lei no. 124/ arthropods are the numerous spider species also found 2006) establishes for the prevention of forest fires, among associated with woodlands. Examples are several dysderids other measures, mosaics of woodland patches at two scales: and gnaphosids, some still undescribed (Cardoso et al. (i) forest tracts larger than 500 ha should be separated by 2008, pers. com.), and the recently found Malthonica strips 125 m wide, where the trees, shrubs, herbs and litter oceanica Barrientos & Cardoso, an endemic agelenid of the are removed; and (ii) at a smaller scale, forest patches not floor of woods dominated by Quercus faginea and Q. suber bigger than 50 ha each (in general between 20 and 50 ha; (Barrientos and Cardoso 2007). from 1 to 20 ha in the cases of greater risk of fire) should All these are just a few examples of what is surely of a be separated by cleared rides 10–50 m wide (exceptionally much wider range. It is not unreasonable, therefore, that the 100 m) also with all the vegetation removed. The width of present ‘‘sanitation’’ regime followed so far by many SMEs, the gap separating adjacent patches would depend on the forest managers and landowners alike may put, as referred type of the edge patch, whether it confines with roads, rails, to before, an unprecedented large number of insect species buildings, villages, etc. As reforestation the law favours the under the risk of extinction, many of which are endemic to plantation of deciduous trees. Yet, as referred to before, no Portugal (or the Iberian peninsula) or have restricted ranges. concern with the conservation of the biodiversity is shown. Beyond this already gloomy scenario, insect pest out- Therefore, in order to prevent the extreme regime of breaks might also be induced, since the clearance of the removing all the understories across each patch, which has 123 J Insect Conserv been followed by SMEs and foresters, the law should also factors in conserving woodland insects and can also act as establish as mandatory a few measures for biodiversity dangerous inflammable materials. Therefore, a definitely conservation. cautious approach seems mandatory. Before the suggested First, the removal of the vegetation, as a rule, should management measures are taken, such as for instance the only be carried out across the rides and strips separating the maintenance of shrubs and herbs in the woodland edge forest patches or in the confining borders of such patches margins, each site type together with the weather regime with roads and other structures as established by law. Still should always be carefully evaluated in relation to the fire- such rides and strips should always make a very small risk of the site. proportion of the fragmented areas (the gaps should be small), in order to be created a mosaic of ‘‘forest islands’’ Acknowledgements I am grateful to several colleagues and other where reciprocal intercolonization of plants and animals people who have provided useful information or helpful comments: Fernanda Calvaõ (Direcçaõ Geral dos Recursos Florestais), Paulo would proceed easily. Moreover, by clearing only the patch Borges and Pedro Cardoso (Universidade dos Açores), Artur Serrano, borders (the rides or strips), the drop in the number of Eugeńia Ribeiro, Ma´rio Boieiro and Pedro da Silva (Faculdade de insect species would be minimal, according to the general Cieˆncias de Lisboa), Rosa Paiva and Teresa Calvaõ (Universidade species-area relationship (MacArthur and Wilson 1967; Nova de Lisboa), Manuela da Gama (Universidade de Coimbra), Luı´s Mendes (Instituto de Investigaçaõ Cientı´fica Tropical, Lisboa), Pat- Williamson 1988). rıćia Pereira (Tagis, Museu de Histo´ria Natural, Lisboa) and Bivar de Second, where advisable (i.e., in the sites of smaller Sousa (Sociedade Portuguesa de Entomologia). Special appreciation burning-risk and when the weather regime is favourable), is also due to the editor, for his interest, as well as to the referees for shrubs, herbs and grasses should be kept along both sides their constructive comments. lining such rides and strips since the maintenance of a healthy woodland edge margin is crucial for the conser- References vation of insects and other wildlife (Fry and Lonsdale 1991). Only in the central part of the rides and strips should Balletto E, Casale A (1991) Mediterranean insect conservation. In: the ground be kept bare. Collins NM, Thomas JA (eds) The conservation of insects and Third, considering that apart from size, another critical their habitats. Academic Press, London, pp 121–142 issue on account of the peninsula effect is shape (e.g., Barrientos JA, Cardoso P (2007) The genus Malthonica Simon, 1898 MacArthur and Wilson 1967; New 1984; Usher 1995), in the Iberian Peninsula (Araneae: Agelenidae). Zootaxa 1460: 59–68 such preserved forest patches should also follow a round Bitsch J (1966) Machilides du Portugal (Insecta, Thysanura). Revista design wherever practicable. de Biologia 5:229–238 Fourth, in order to improve the biological diversity by Blondel J, Aronson J (1999) Biology and wildlife of the Mediterra- allowing a greater variety of shrubs and herbaceous plants nean region. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 328 Cardoso P, Gaspar C, Pereira LC, Silva I, Henriques SS, Silva RR and thus providing habitats for a wider range of insects and et al (2008) Assessing spider species richness and composition in other arthropods, clear-cutting small areas into the wood Mediterranean cork oak forests. Acta Oecol 33:114–127. doi: patches should also be favoured. In this way, a mosaic of 10.1016/j.actao.2007.10.003 small areas of different successional age could be set up Convention on Biological Diversity 2001. 2010 Biodiversity Target. «http://www.biodiv.org/2010-target/default.asp and, because of restricted ranges of dispersal by some da Gama MM (1964) Coleˆmbolos de Portugal Continental. Memorias species, small-scale mosaics would be preferable to larger Estud Museu Zoologico Univ Coimbra 292:1–252 scale mosaics (Usher and Jefferson 1991). da Gama MM, Sousa JP, Ferreira C, Barrocas H (1997) Endemic and Finally, it is highly favoured any measures of refores- rare Collembola distribution in High Endemism Areas of South Portugal: a case study. Eur J Soil Biol 33(3):129–140 tation with broadleaved deciduous trees which support a Decreto-Lei no. 124 (2006) Dia´rio da Repu´blica. 123:4586–4599 wide diversity of flora and fauna. Dennis P, Usher GB, Watt AD (1995) Lowland woodland structure Summing up, as the measures here suggested are based and pattern and the distribution of arboreal, phytophagous on sound ecological principles combining both habitat arthropods. Biodivers Conserv 4:728–744. doi:10.1007/BF0015 8866 management and island biogeographical effects, it is Fry R, Lonsdale D (eds) (1991) Habitat conservation for insects—a expected that they might ensure the survival of most of the neglected green issue. The Amateur Entomologists Society, woodland entomofauna in this country. Yet, as solutions Middlesex, England, p 262 are always easier to state than to act upon, they should also MacArthur RH, Wilson EO (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton, p 203 be seen mostly as tentative and general guidelines. Maravalhas E (ed) (2003) The butterflies of Portugal. Apollo Books, Anyway, the main message of this point-of-view is that we Stenstrup, Denmark, p 455 really must get moving in order to galvanize action. Hence, Mendes LF (1976) Le genre Dilta Strand, 1911 au Portugal (Thysan- any appropriate comments or suggestions are welcome. ura, Machilidae). De´scription d’une nouvelle espe`ce et d’une autre peu connue. Nouvelle Revue d’Entomologie 6(1):9–17 It is clear that some conflict may arise, since the amount Nast J (1987) The Auchenorrhyncha (Homoptera) of Europe. Ann of woodland understories is one of the most important Zool 40(15):535–662 123 J Insect Conserv

New TR (1984) Insect conservation. An Australian perspective. Seabra AF (1931) Subsı´dios para o conhecimento da fauna das Matas Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, p 184 Nacionais: concluso˜es de estudos realizados na Mata de Leiria. Price PW (1987) The role of natural enemies in insect populations. In: Imprensa da Universidade, Coimbra, p 142 Barbosa P, Schultz JC (eds) Insect outbreaks. Academic Press, Serrano ARM (1981) Contribuiçaõ para o estudo dos coleo´pteros do Inc., London, pp 287–312 Parque Natural da Arra´bida. Colecçaõ Parques Naturais, vol. 9, Quartau JA (1970) A new leafhopper genus and species from Lisboa, p 87 Portugal, Lusitanocephalus sacarraoi gen and. sp. n. (Homop- Serrano A, Aguiar C (2000) Two new Geocaris Ehlers, 1883 from tera: Cicadellidae, Deltocephalini). Cienc Biologicas Luanda Portugal (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Nouvelle Revue d‘Entomolo- 1(1):17–23 gie (NS.) 17(4):329–335 Quartau JA (1971) Agallia linnavuori n. sp., a new leafhopper from Serrano A, Zuzarte AJ, Boeiro M, Aguiar C (2002) Coleo´pteros do Portugal (Homoptera: Cicadellidae, Agalliinae). Cienc Biolog- Parque Natural da Serra de S. Mamede, uma abordagem a` sua icas Luanda 1(2):73–79 Biodiversidade. Relato´rio ao I.C.N., p 73. (unpublished report) Quartau JA (1986) A new species of Jassargus Zachvatkin, 1953 Speight MR, Hunter MD, Watt AD (1999) Ecology of insects. (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) from Portugal. Concepts and applications. Blackwell, Oxford, p 350 Arquivos do Museu Bocage, se´r. B II(19):159–163 Sueur J, Puissant S, Simo˜es PC, Seabra S, Boulard M, Quartau JA Quartau JA, Carvalho EL (1998) Contribuiçaõ para o melhor (2004) Cicadas from Portugal: revised list of species with eco- conhecimento dos insectos em Portugal: Chaves para a deter- ethological data (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Insect Syst Evol minaçaõ das ordens. Museu Bocage, Museu Nacional de Histo´ria 35(2):177–187 Natural, Lisboa, Publicaço˜es Avulsas, 2a Se´rie, No. 5, p 24 UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme (2002) Report on the Quartau JA, Fonseca P (1988) An annotated check-list of the species Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention of cicadas known to occur in Portugal (Homoptera: Cicadoidea). on Biological Diversity (UNEP/CBD/COP/6/20/Part 2). Strate- Proceedings of the 6th Auchenorrhyncha Meeting, Turin, Italy, gic Plan Decision VI/26 7–11 September 1987: 267–375 Usher MB (1995) A world of change: land-use patterns and arthropod Ramade F (1990) Conservation des Ecosyste`mes Mediterraneéns communities. In: Harrington R, Stork NE (eds) Insects in a Enjeux et perspectives. PNUE, Economica, Paris, p 144 Changing Environment. Academic Press, London, pp 372–397 Ribeiro E (1990) Contribution to the study of fungus-gnats (Diptera: Usher MB, Jefferson RG (1991) Creating new and successional Mycetophiloidea) of Portugal. II—Seven new records. Bol Soc habitats for arthropods. In: Collins NM, Thomas JA (eds) The Port Entomologia 118(IV–16):173–196 conservation of insects and their habitats. Academic Press, Ribeiro E (1992) Contribution to the study of fungus-gnats (Diptera: London, pp 263–291 Mycetophiloidea) of Portugal. I—Twenty-three new records. Williamson M (1988) Relationship of species number to area, distance Boletim da Sociedade Portuguesa de Cieˆncias Naturais (2a and other variables. In: Myers AA, Giller PS (eds) Analytical Se´rie) 25:21–30 Biogeography: an integrated approach to the study of animal and Risch SJ (1987) Agricultural ecology and insect outbreaks. In: plant distributions. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 91–115 Barbosa P, Schultz JC (eds) Insect outbreaks. Academic Press, Inc., London, pp 217–238

123