Associations between wasp communities and forest structure: Do strong local patterns hold across landscapes

Forest structure and habitat complexity have been used extensively to predict the distribution and abundance of insect assemblages in forest ecosystems. We tested empirically derived predictions of strong, consistent relationships between wasp assemblages and habitat complexity, using both field ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Austral ecology 2007-09, Vol.32 (6), p.656-662
Main Authors: LASSAU, SCOTT A, HOCHULI, DIETER F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
biodiversity surrogates
forest landscapes
Forests
habitat complexity
Habitats
Hymenoptera
Insects
predictive responses
wasp community patterns
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Summary:Forest structure and habitat complexity have been used extensively to predict the distribution and abundance of insect assemblages in forest ecosystems. We tested empirically derived predictions of strong, consistent relationships between wasp assemblages and habitat complexity, using both field assessments and vegetation indices from remote sensing as measures of habitat complexity. Wasp samples from 26 paired 'high and low' complexity sites in two forests approximately 70 km apart, were compared with normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVIs) derived from multispectral videography of the survey sites. We describe a strong unequivocal link between habitat complexity and wasp communities, the patterns holding over coarse and fine landscape scales. NDVIs were also excellent predictors of habitat complexity and hence wasp community patterns. Sites with greater NDVIs consistently supported a greater abundance and species richness, and a different composition of wasps to sites with low NDVIs. Using vegetation indices from remote sensing to gauge habitat complexity has significant potential for ecosystem modelling and rapid biodiversity assessment.
ISSN:1442-9985
1442-9993
DOI:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2007.01751.x