Effects of forest heterogeneity on the efficiency of caterpillar control service provided by birds in temperate oak forests

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

卷:327

Article

Bereczki, Krisztina^1,2  Odor, Peter³  Csoka, Gyoergy⁴  Mag, Zsuzsa⁵  Baldi, Andras² 

[1] Szent Istvan Univ, Sch Environm Sci, H-2100 Godollo, Hungary

[2] MTA OK Lendulet Ecosyst Serv Res Grp, H-2163 Vacratot, Hungary

[3] MTA Ctr Ecol Res, Inst Ecol & Bot, H-2163 Vacratot, Hungary

[4] Forest Res Inst, Dept Forest Protect, H-3232 Matrafured, Hungary

[5] Eotvos Lorand Univ, Dept Plant Systemat Ecol & Theoret Biol, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary

关键词: Ecosystem service;    Pest control;    Predation;    Leaf damage;    Forest structure;    Forest management;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.foreco.2014.05.001

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Controlling herbivore insects by insectivorous birds is a major ecosystem service, nevertheless little is known about how local habitat features and forest management influence the efficiency of this service and about how the pest control service birds provide can be maintained and improved. We conducted an experiment in temperate oak forests in the Matra Mountains, northern Hungary to measure bird predation rate of artificial caterpillars resembling winter moth (Operophtera brumata L.) larvae, to evaluate the relationships among insectivorous bird communities, caterpillar populations and leaf damage caused by caterpillars and to assess the effect of forest heterogeneity on these processes. We found, that structurally heterogeneous forests maintained a significantly higher abundance of insectivorous birds. Especially the tree size heterogeneity increased bird abundance. The rate of bird predation was positively related to the abundance of insectivorous birds as well as to caterpillar abundance, which indicates that birds were able to respond to caterpillar density. We were not able to demonstrate a direct negative effect of bird predation on caterpillar abundance and a positive effect of caterpillar abundance on leaf damage. Structurally heterogeneous forests, however, suffered from less leaf damage than did homogeneous forests, which result may indicates that the higher activity of insectivorous birds in heterogeneous stands resulted in lower activity of insect herbivores. Thus, we concluded that forest management can contribute to the mitigation of insect damages by maintaining the suitability of forest stands to the insectivorous bird communities through the maintenance of high stand heterogeneity and the presence of some key elements (e.g. retention tree groups, tree diversity, shrub layer). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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