National & Kapodistrian University of Athens AA COMPARISONCOMPARISON OFOF ARTHROPODARTHROPOD COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES ATAT BURNTBURNT ANDAND NONNON--BURNTBURNT MOUNTAINMOUNTAIN SIDESSIDES Ioannis ANASTASIOU1, Spyros SFENTHOURAKIS2, Dimitris TSAPARIS1 & Anastasios LEGAKIS1. 1. ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM, DEPT. OF BIOLOGY, UNIV. OF ATHENS, GR-15784 ATHENS, GREECE 2. SECTION OF ANIMAL BIOLOGY, DEPT. OF BIOLOGY, UNIV. OF PATRAS, GR-26500 PATRAS, GREECE 9th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions, Thessaloniki, Greece, 22-25/5/2002 IntroductionIntroduction • Fires are a major source of habitat change in Mediterranean ecosystems • Fires are more common at low elevations, but they do occur at medium and high elevations too • The effects of ‘mountain fires’ on the diversity of animal communities have not received so much attention In this work we attack the question: Are the communities of terrestrial invertebrates showing any differences among burnt and non- burnt mountainous sites ? MethodsMethods Sampling Period April – November 2001 (7 months) Sampling Frequency Monthly Sampling Method • Standard Pitfall Traps (plastic cups of 250ml containing about 50ml of ethylene glycol) • 8 traps per biotope laying on a transect lines, and having a distance of 15m between them (in AL biotope Æ 12 traps due to higher heterogeneity) StudyStudy AreaArea • South-East Peloponnisos • North slopes of Mt. Taygetos 37o 06' North – 22o 15' East • Altitudinal Range 1400 – 1650 m BiotopesBiotopes • Sub-Alpine [AL] • Mixed Coniferous Forest (Pinus nigra & Abies cephalonica) [MF] • Burnt Forest [K1 – K5] • Neighboring Burnt [KA] And Non-Burnt (Pinus nigra forest) [AK] OpenOpen BiotopesBiotopes Sub-Alpine [AL] • Altitudinal Range: ≅1650 m. • Aspect: West • Coverage: Rocks, Bushes, Shrubs, Bare Soil. • Vegetation: Juniperus communis, Astragalus sp., Poa sp., Daphne oleoides, Abies cephalonica, Ranunculus sp., Compositae, Gramineae. OpenOpen BiotopesBiotopes Burnt [K1] [K3] • Altitudinal Range: 1420-1470 m. • Aspect: Varying • Coverage: Shrubs, Burned Logs. • Vegetation: Trifolium sp., Pteridium aquilinum, Verbascum sp., Poa sp., Hypericum sp., Fragaria sp., Compositae, Gramineae. [K5] MixedMixed ConiferousConiferous ForestForest [MF] • Altitudinal Range: ≅1500 m. • Aspect: South, South-East • Coverage: Trees, Leaf Litter, Shrubs. • Vegetation: Pinus nigra, Abies cephalonica, Pteridium aquilinum, Fragaria sp., Gramineae. NeighboringNeighboring BurntBurnt andand NonNon--BurntBurnt ForestForest [KA] [AK] • Altitudinal Range: ≅1400 m. • Altitudinal Range: ≅1400 m. • Aspect: South-East • Aspect: North-West • Coverage: Shrubs, Rocks, Bare Soil, Logs. • Coverage: Trees, Leaf Litter, Shrubs. • Vegetation: Trifolium sp., Cerastium sp., • Vegetation: Pinus nigra, Pteridium aquilinum. Sonchus sp., Arabidopsis thaliana, Pteridium aquilinum, Compositae. AL MF AK KA K1 K4 K5 Calathus corax PresencePresence ofof CarabidaeCarabidae Platyderus graecus Molops spartanus Carabus merlini Microlestes luctuosus SpeciesSpecies perper BiotopeBiotope Syntomus obscuroguttatus Calosoma inquisitor Zabrus graecus Tapinopterus duponcheli Lebia trimaculata Masoreus wetterhallii Trechus austriacus Leistus spinibarbis Legend Carabus convexus Laemostenus peloponnesiacus Tapinopterus rebellis Widely Distributed Zabrus aetolus hellenicus Zabrus robustus Carabus coriaceus Harpalus honestus Calosoma sycophanta Coniferous Forest Notiophilus rufipes Leistus magnicollis Aptinus lugubris Ophonus k rueperi Leistus rufomarginatus Sub-Alpine Cymindis axillaris Notiophilus interstitialis Harpalus sulphuripes Cymindis sinuata Zabrus validus Mainly in Forests Carabus preslii Acinopus baudii Ophonus cribricollis Ophonus taygetanus Ophonus cordatus Open Biotopes Harpalus serripes Amara aenea Harpalus rubripes Harpalus saxicola Harpalus rufipalpis Burnt Biotopes Amara montivaga Amara eurynota Bembidion sp Calathus cinctus Pseudophonus rufipes Various Cymindis lineata Leistus parvicollis CarabidaeCarabidae abundanceabundance perper monthmonth AL 60 40 20 0 apr may jun jul aug sep oct K5 K1 10 20 5 10 0 0 apr may jun jul aug sep oct apr may jun jul aug sep oct CarabidaeCarabidae abundanceabundance perper monthmonth AK KA 20 20 10 10 0 0 apr may jun jul aug sep oct apr may jun jul aug sep oct MF K4 40 20 30 15 20 10 10 5 0 0 apr may jun jul aug sep oct apr may jun jul aug sep oct CarabidaeCarabidae abundanceabundance (pooled(pooled samples)samples) 120 90 60 30 0 AL MF AK KA K1 K4 K5 CarabidaeCarabidae diversitydiversity (pooled(pooled samples)samples) ANOVA of diversities (Shannon index) CARABIDAE (June) 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0 BU NB F = 5.52 P = 0.023 Carabidae (clustering of monthly samples) CarabidaeCarabidae (pooled(pooled samplessamples perper station)station) PresencePresence ofof TenebrionidaeTenebrionidae SpeciesSpecies perper BiotopeBiotope AL MF AK KA K1 K4 K5 Laena sp B Cylindronotus tuberculiger Pedinus affinis alziari Stenosis orientalis Dendarus plicatulus Asida fairmairei Calyptopsis caraboides Dailognatha quadricollis Dendarus messenius Idastraniella taygetanus Nalassus graecus Pedinus fatuus Pedinus quadratus Pedinus subdepressus Pedinus taygetanus Widely Distributed Legend Sub-Alpine Open Biotopes TenebrionidaeTenebrionidae abundanceabundance perper monthmonth AL 30 20 10 0 apr may jun jul aug sep K5 K1 3 5 2 2,5 1 0 0 apr may jun jul aug sep apr may jun jul aug sep TenebrionidaeTenebrionidae abundanceabundance perper monthmonth AK KA 1 2 1,5 0,5 1 0,5 0 0 apr may jun jul aug sep apr may jun jul aug sep MF K4 1 2 1,5 0,5 1 0,5 0 0 apr may jun jul aug sep apr may jun jul aug sep TenebrionidaeTenebrionidae abundanceabundance (pooled(pooled samples)samples) 40 30 20 10 0 AL MF AK KA K1 K4 K5 TenebrionidaeTenebrionidae diversitydiversity (pooled(pooled samples)samples) Tenebrionidae (clustering of monthly samples) TenebrionidaeTenebrionidae (pooled(pooled samplessamples perper station)station) PresencePresence ofof IsopodaIsopoda perper BiotopeBiotope AL MF AK KA K1 K4 K5 Armadillidium kalamatense Orthometopon dalmatinum Porcellio obsoletus Trichoniscus pusillus Porcellio peloponnesius Trachelipus palustris Ligidium euboicum Armadillidium tripolitzense Porcellionides pruinosus Widely Distributed Coniferous Forest Legend Mainly in Forests Open Biotopes Burnt Biotopes IsopodaIsopoda abundanceabundance perper monthmonth 60 20 AL 18 50 K1 16 40 14 12 30 10 8 20 6 10 4 2 0 0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 60 20 K4 18 K5 50 16 14 40 12 30 10 8 20 6 10 4 2 0 0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct IsopodaIsopoda abundanceabundance perper monthmonth 60 50 MF 40 30 20 10 0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 2 20 18 AK KA 16 14 12 1 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct IsopodaIsopoda abundanceabundance (pooled(pooled samples)samples) 200 160 120 80 40 0 AL MF AK KA K1 K4 K5 IsopodaIsopoda diversitydiversity (pooled(pooled samples)samples) ANOVA of diversities (Shannon index) ISOPODA (June) 1,2 1 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0 BU NB F = 6,55 P = 0,017 Isopoda (clustering of monthly samples) IsopodaIsopoda (pooled(pooled samplessamples perper station)station) ConclusionsConclusions Highest abundance in sub-alpine habitat The pine forest has the lowest abundance Burnt habitats are not poorer than non-burnt Burnt habitats are generally more diverse than non-burnt (except for the sub-alpine habitat) The three groups analyzed herein do not show particularly consistent diversity patterns Open habitats (sub-alpine and burnt) are more similar in community structure The markedly increased diversity of (the carnivorous) Carabidae in burnt habitats might be due to species coming from other habitats to opportunistically exploit available resources Fire does not seem to have significant short- and medium-termed effects on the epigeic invertebrate communities we studied WeWe mustmust notenote thatthat therethere werewere almostalmost nono postpost--firefire humanhuman activitiesactivities inin thesethese habitatshabitats ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to thank the following colleagues for their assistance during the project: Christos GEORGIADIS Anna PAPADOPOULOU Eleni GOURGOU.