THE RESPONSE OF BEETLES TO GROUP SELECTION HARVESTING IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST by MICHAEL DARRAGH ULYSHEN (Under the Direction of James L. Hanula) ABSTRACT The environmental protection and sustainable management of our remaining forests are increasingly important concerns. Group selection harvesting is an uneven-aged forest management practice that removes patches of desirable trees to create small openings mimicking natural disturbances. To determine the effects of this technique on beetles, malaise and pitfall traps were placed at the center, edge, and in the forest surrounding artificially created gaps of different size (0.13, 0.26, and 0.50 ha) and age (1 and 7 years) in a South Carolina bottomland hardwood forest. Beetles were generally more abundant and species rich in the centers of younger gaps than in the centers of older gaps or in the forest surrounding them. There were relatively few differences in the abundance and richness of beetles between old gaps and the surrounding forest but species composition differed considerably. These differences may be explained by the uneven distribution of various resources. INDEX WORDS: Coleoptera, logging, coarse woody debris, carabidae, herbivores, silphidae, canopy gaps, swamps, flooding THE RESPONSE OF BEETLES TO GROUP SELECTION HARVESTING IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST by MICHAEL DARRAGH ULYSHEN B.S., Miami University, 2002 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2005 © 2005 Michael Darragh Ulyshen All Rights Reserved THE RESPONSE OF BEETLES TO GROUP SELECTION HARVESTING IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST by MICHAEL DARRAGH ULYSHEN Major Professor: James L. Hanula Committee: Joseph McHugh Wayne Berisford Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2005 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. James Hanula for advice and guidance during this study, as well as for permitting me to travel while pursuing this degree. I am also grateful for the help of Dr. Joseph McHugh, Dr. Wayne Berisford, Scott Horn, Dr. John Kilgo, Dr. Christopher Moorman, Dr. Cecil Smith, Harry Lee Jr., Danny Dyer, Walter Sikora, Lee Reynolds, Nicole Hamilton, Stephanie Cahill, Ryan Malloy, Josh Campbell, and Francis Brookshire. Finally, I thank and am in particular debt to the Ulyshens and Keisters. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................1 2 THE RESPONSE OF BEETLES TO CANOPY GAP CREATION IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST..............................4 3 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF BEETLES ASSOCIATED WITH COARSE WOODY DEBRIS IN MANAGED BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FORESTS................................................................................................................38 4 HERBIVOROUS INSECT RESPONSE TO GROUP SELECTION CUTTING IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST............................77 5 THE RESPONSE OF GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) TO SELECTION CUTTING IN A SOUTH CAROLINA BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST .......................................................................................105 6 USING MALAISE TRAPS TO SAMPLE GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) ......................................................................................................137 7 RESPONSE OF CARRION BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: SILPHIDAE) TO FLOODING AND GAP CREATION IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST .......................................................................................154 8 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................175 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW Southeastern bottomland hardwood forests are important for water quality and control, nutrient cycling, and wildlife habitat, and support among the most diverse plant and animal communities in North America (Kellison and Young 1997). The amount of remaining bottomland forest continues to decrease, and that which remains has been largely mismanaged. Virtually all forests in the eastern United States have been logged at least once (Heavrin 1981), and selective removal of only the most desirable trees, has resulted in the comparatively low- value stands existing today (Kellison and Young 1997). Restoring and protecting environmental health has become the priority among progressive foresters and modern ‘ecosystem management’ attempts to produce commodities “not for the capital value they represent, but rather as a byproduct of ecologically based interventions in stands and landscapes” (Guldin 1996). How to best manage forests in order to minimize the negative impacts of timber removal will depend, in many cases, on the forest type. This is due to the fact that different forests have different patterns of natural disturbance (Hunter 1990, Guldin 1996). Even-aged management (e.g. clearcutting, shelterwood cutting, etc.) may be best used in forests, such as conifer forests, that experience infrequent but widespread disturbances like fire (Hunter 1990, Bonnicksen 1994). In contrast, uneven-aged management (e.g. selection cutting) that mimics frequent but 2 localized disturbances may be best in forests, such as deciduous forests, that generally experience disturbance in the form of individual tree deaths (Hunter 1990). Group-selection harvesting is an uneven-aged forest management practice that removes patches of merchantable trees leaving small (< 0.55 ha) openings similar to those created by insect infestations, severe wind damage or other localized disturbances (Hunter 1990, Meadows and Stanturf 1997, Guldin 1996). Because it emulates disturbance patterns natural to bottomland hardwood forests, group-selection harvesting may be a good compromise between protecting forest health and harvesting valuable timber. This research investigates the response of beetles to the creation of group-selection gaps of different size (0.13, 0.26, and 0.50 ha) and age (1 or 7 years) in a bottomland hardwood forest in South Carolina, USA. This thesis consists of six sections. The first examines the overall response of beetles to gap creation as well as the individual responses of the 40 most common families. The second looks specifically at the bark and wood-boring families and their dependency upon coarse woody debris. The third considers the effects of plant succession on leaf beetles and other insect herbivores. The response of ground beetles (Carabidae) and the importance of flight to carabids in flooded habitats are considered in the fourth and fifth sections, respectively. Finally, the last section deals with the response of Silphidae to both gap creation and flooding. 3 References Cited Bonnicksen, T.M., 1994. Nature’s clearcuts: Lesson from the past. P. 22-28 in Closer look: An on-the ground investigation of the Sierra Club book, Clearcut. Am. For. And Pap. Assoc. Washington D.C. 28 p. Guldin, J. M., 1996. The role of uneven-aged silviculture in the context of ecosystem management. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 11: 4-13. Heavrin, C. A., 1981. Boxes, Baskets and Boards: A History of Anderson-Tully Co. Memphis State Univ. Press, Memphis, TN, 178 pp Hunter, M. L. 1990. Wildlife, forests, and forestry. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA. Kellison, R. C., Young, M. J., 1997. The bottomland hardwood forest of the southern United States. Forest Ecology and Management 90: 101-115. Meadows, J. S., Stanturf, J. A., 1997. Silvicultural systems for southern bottomland hardwood forests. Forest Ecology and Management 90: 127-140. 4 CHAPTER 2 THE RESPONSE OF BEETLES TO CANOPY GAP CREATION IN A SOUTHEASTERN BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FOREST¹ ¹Ulyshen, M. D., Hanula, J. L., Horn, S., Kilgo, J. C., Moorman, C. E. To be submitted to the Journal of Entomological Science. 5 Introduction Due to ever-increasing demands for timber products and an increasingly fragmented landscape, identifying the least disruptive and most sustainable harvesting practices has become a central concern. This research investigates the response of beetles to the creation of canopy gaps of different size (0.13, 0.26, and 0.50 ha) and age (1 or 7 years) in a 75-100 year-old bottomland hardwood forest in South Carolina. The gaps were created by group selection harvests, an uneven-aged forest management practice that removes patches of merchantable trees leaving small (< 0.55 ha) openings similar to those created by treefalls and wind damage (Hunter 1990, Meadows and Stanturf 1997, Guldin 1996). Materials and Methods This study was conducted on the Savannah River Site (SRS), an 80,269-ha nuclear production facility near Aiken, South Carolina. The SRS is owned and operated by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), and is managed as a National Environmental Research Park. The study area used was a 75-100-year-old bottomland hardwood forest approximately 120 ha in size. The forest canopy consisted of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.)), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia Michaux), willow oak (Q. phellos L.), overcup oak (Q. lyrata Walter), cherrybark oak (Q. falcata var. pagodaefolia Elliott), swamp chestnut oak (Q. michauxii Nuttall), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.).