Memoranda Soc. Fauna Flora Fennica 86:43–53. 2010 The semi-aquatic fly fauna (Diptera) of wetlands of the Åland Islands Olli Autio* & Jukka Salmela Autio, O., Etelä-Pohjanmaan ELY-keskus, P.O. Box 156, FI-60101 Seinäjoki, Finland. Email: olliautio.olliautio @gmail.com (*Author for correspondence) Salmela, J., Zoological Museum, Section of Biodiversity and Environmental Science, FI- 20014 University of Turku, Finland. Email: [email protected] Semiaquatic flies (Diptera, Nematocera: Limoniidae, Tipulidae, Pediciidae, Cylindroto- midae, Ptychopteridae, Psychodidae and Dixidae) of wetlands in the Åland Islands were collected from 19 sites with Malaise traps. Sites included open mires, wooded mires, rich fens, Baltic shore meadows, ditches and a grove. A total of 104 species were found of which 58 were recorded for the first time from the Åland Islands. Baltic shore meadows were the most species rich habitat type with 44 species. They were followed by ditches (41 spp.). However, local nematoceran communities of the Åland Islands are on average composed of fewer species than in other parts of southern Finland. Also the known total number of species is lower in the region of Åland than in the other regions of southern Fin- land. The theory of island biogeography may partly explain this. Åland is situated about 40 km from the nearest continental area. However, the best explanation for the observed species number may be that the islands are lacking some of the most species-rich habitats, for example, brooks and springs. 1. Introduction mate of Åland is mild compared to the Finnish mainland; the average July temperature is 15,9 °C The province of the Åland Islands (Alandia, A) is and in February –2,5 °C (Norden 2009). Annual an exception among biogeographical provinces of precipitation (1971–2000) is 553 mm. The main Finland. This is especially because the province is island is flat with the exception of rocky areas of in the form of an archipelago on the Baltic Sea. northern and eastern parts. The highest point of The archipelago consists of a main island and ca. Åland reaches 129 m. The coastline is broken with 6,500 smaller islands (Government of Åland long bays extending to far inland. Special environ- 1997). The main island, which is situated about 80 mental characteristics of the main island are km from the mainland of Finland and 40 km from heaths, extensive exposed bedrock areas, agricul- the mainland of Sweden, is 50 km long in south- tural landscapes and diverse wetlands. Luxuriant north direction and 45 km in east-west direction. hardwood groves are also a typical biotope of the Its total area covers 685 km2 (Statistics Finland main island. 2008). The purpose of this research is to study the The province of the Åland Islands is situated semiaquatic nematoceran fly fauna (Diptera) of on hemiboreal vegetation zone. Besides the main wetlands of the main island of the Åland biogeo- island of Åland, the zone includes only the south- graphical province. The main goal of the study was westernmost parts of continental Finland. The cli- to examine diversity and community structure of 44 Autio & Salmela • Memoranda Soc. Fauna Flora Fennica 86, 2010 Fig. 1. Map of the main island of the archipel- ago of Åland. The numbers on the map express the locations of the study-sites. For numbering, check the left- hand column in Table 1. nematoceran flies. The nematoceran families ex- composition of wetland habitats in Åland to those amined were Limoniidae, Tipulidae, Pediciidae, situated on the Finnish continent. Cylindrotomidae, Ptychopteridae, Psychodidae Area of wetlands has decreased remarkably es- and Dixidae. With the exception of a mire survey pecially in southern Finland. Wetlands have been by Krogerus (1960), no systematic study of these drained mainly for forestry, agricultural use and families had been performed in the Åland Islands peat harvesting (Vasander et al. 2003, Raunio et al. and knowledge of their local diversity was inade- 2008). In the Åland Islands, 71% of the peatland quate. Nematoceran flies are a very diverse dipter- area has been altered by draining activities (Stén an group and in Finland the mentioned families 2006). currently include 416 species (Salmela, J. unpub- The study was performed on wide scale of dif- lished). Limoniidae, Tipulidae and Psychodidae ferent wetland habitats. 19 studied sites included are the most species rich semiaquatic fly families. three open mires (>3 ha in area), two wood-grow- The majority of the species in this study are ing mires (<1 ha in area), four rich fens, five Baltic tied to wetland habitats. The larvae of semiaquatic shore meadows, four ditches and one grove (Table flies mostly develop among detritus, mosses or 1). Besides these, Uddhagarna spring brook in minerogenous substrates. The adult stage of flies is Eckerö municipality was studied with sweep net in short and takes at most few weeks. Identification June. of larvae is very challenging because immature stages of several species are unknown. Different wetland habitats accommodate specific species 2. Material & methods compositions related to their trophic status (i.e. availability of nutrients and amount of hydrogen 2.1. On collection and handling ions) and water regime (e.g. Salmela and Ilmonen of insect material 2005, Salmela 2008). The semiaquatic fly fauna of the Finnish wetlands has been widely examined in Only adult insect material was collected in this the last 10 years, although there are great differ- study. The material was collected mainly by using ences in the study effort between biogeographical Malaise traps (height 140, length 110, width 70 provinces or ecoregions. Hence, the present study cm). The Malaise trap is a passive, non-attractive was performed in order to improve the knowledge trap model which is an efficient way to collect low of the distribution and ecology of the fly species flying insects. The traps were set on 19 research and to compare species richness and assemblage sites (Table 1, Fig. 1). One trap was set on each of Memoranda Soc. Fauna Flora Fennica 86, 2010 • Autio & Salmela 45 Table 1. Studied sites, municipality, biotope type, North (N) and South (S) coordinates (Grid 27°E), number of species (S) and number of specimens (n). Site Municipality Biotope type N E S n 1. Burskatan Jomala Open mire 6686455 3103434 11 115 2. Stormossen Jomala Open mire 6689981 3097828 8 57 3. Bredmossen Sund Open mire 6704547 3125437 9 107 4. Stormossa Eckerö Wooded mire 6697213 3087872 10 27 5. Långbergsöda Saltvik Wooded mire 6707613 3121328 24 130 6. Nyhaga Jomala Rich fen 6689576 3099362 11 38 7. Moren Jomala Rich fen 6694611 3103880 21 134 8. Holmträsket Eckerö Rich fen 6705169 3092433 19 274 9. Ångesjö Hammarland Rich fen 6707204 3098414 11 34 10. Gottbyviken Jomala Baltic shore meadow 6688586 3101390 18 83 11. Österviken Jomala Baltic shore meadow 6693341 3113701 23 1,829 12. Björsby Jomala Baltic shore meadow 6696277 3111044 16 123 13. Holmviken Hammarland Baltic shore meadow 6707990 3097582 15 35 14. Holmsjön Finström Baltic shore meadow 6702597 3102951 11 109 15. Kungsö Jomala Ditch 6688606 3101930 15 68 16. Timmermyran Jomala Ditch 6689945 3098475 4 9 17. Sinnträsk Eckerö Ditch 6695874 3086810 24 139 18. Ångesjö ditch Hammarland Ditch 6706908 3098360 18 357 19. Prästgårdsnäset Finström Grove 6703678 3109354 16 57 17 sites, and two traps on each of two sites. The Their bottom vegetation consists mainly of Sphag- traps were set on the study sites at the end of April num papillosum and S. balticum. The open mires and they were removed at the end of September. studied were Burskatan and Stormossen in Jomala The exception was the grove of Prästgårdsnäset, municipality and Bredmossen in Sund. Those where the traps were present only from April to were classified as plateau bogs. The mires were June due to pasturage of the area. Other traps were characterized by oligo-mesotrophic vegetation emptied at six week intervals. 50% ethylene glycol with patches of ombrogenous vegetation. Vascular with a small amount of salt and detergent was used plant communities of the open mires in this study as preservative in the traps. The collected insect were quite species poor. Carex lasiocarpa was the material was finally preserved in 70% ethanol and dominant species on Bredmossen. Low-growing the nematoceran families to be studied were sorted common reed (Phragmites australis) was abun- out and identified in a laboratory. In addition to dant on Burskatan and Stormossen. traps, adult flies were collected from one site with The wooded mires studied were Långbergsöda a sweep net in June. in Saltvik and Stormossa in Eckerö. Oligo- and mesotrophic vegetation (e.g. Carex echinata and C. rostrata) dominated in Långbergsöda. There 2.2. Study sites was also a permanent pool filled with water which was marked as a spring on the map. Vegetation re- Many valuable open natural mires can be found in lated to springs was not found, however. Stor- different reaches of the main island. Those are typ- mossa was a narrow mesotrophic mire, about 5 ical plateau bogs (Lindholm & Heikkilä 2006, acres in area, with very wet bottom layer which Stén 2006). The most representative plateau bogs was low in the amount of vegetation (e.g. meso- are situated in south-western, eastern and northern trophic species Sphagnum subsecundum), and parts of the main island. Those mires have mosaic- Myrica gale was the dominant vascular plant like surface structure with low hummocks and ir- there. regular flarks. Middle parts of the mires are flat The rich fens of the Åland Islands are espe- with only slight elevation compared to edges. cially valuable habitats from the perspective of the 46 Autio & Salmela • Memoranda Soc. Fauna Flora Fennica 86, 2010 whole of Finland.