Braconid wasp (Hymenoptera : Braconidae) diversity in forest plots under different silvicultural methods

• Published in: Environmental entomology 1999-12, Vol.28 (6), p.986-997
• Main Authors: LEWIS, C. N, WHITFIELD, J. B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Braconidae; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; USA, Arkansas
• ISSN: 0046-225X; 1938-2936
• DOI: 10.1093/ee/28.6.986

The effect of disturbance from various silvicultural treatments on insect abundance and species composition was tested using braconid wasps as indicators. Wasps were collected from undisturbed, moderately disturbed, and highly disturbed plots in a pine-hardwood forest of western Arkansas. Diversity was measured in three ways-numbers of individuals and numbers of species, estimated total species richness and abundance, and observed and estimated complementarity (proportion of species shared) among treatments. In all, 251 species and 1300 individuals were collected. Raw numbers showed little difference among treatments. Estimates of total species richness were twice as high for disturbed as for undisturbed plots. Complementarity measures, however, showed very different species complexes among treatments, with just 24% of species in common between undisturbed and highly disturbed treatments, and 42% in common between moderately and highly disturbed plots. Although diversity appears to increase with disturbance, some species of undisturbed forests are lost to silviculture practices. Complementarity patterns of braconid wasps are good indicators of faunal change due to silvicultural disturbance.